Hunter the Vigil: Aftermath
by Seryna RPC
Summary: A novel set in the world of darkness that explores a hunter cell trying to defend a California from an evolving vampire threat.
1. Chapter 1

A sharp, piercing noise roused Nicole from a deep sleep. Checking her phone, she saw that it was seven thirty- and she was receiving a phone call from Detective Frank Kim, an old friend in the police department. Groaning, she answered the phone with a sleepy

'Yeah, Kim?"

"We have a situation – dead body found. Some weird eye witness report… it may be your sort of thing."

"Can you get me access to the scene?"

"If you hurry."

Kristen sat on Nicole's bed, glancing around the room. Having been awoken minutes before, she simply threw on a clean top and ran a brush through her hair, sweeping it into a no muss ponytail. Nicole was dressing and calling her close friend, Seryna Ward. Kristen suddenly remembered to call her friend, Nancy, awakening her at this early hour. Nancy was groggy, but immediately amenable to meeting them at the scene. Kristen explained that Nicole had kept her contacts on the police force and that they were not going to jeopardize her position by trying to gain access. They would go to the next door neighbors, Mao Channing's home. Her husband had been the first witness, she the second. They were good people. Before hanging up, Nancy said blearily.

"You haven't told your sister, have you?"

Kristen hung up without answering. She rose and began to pace her sister's room as Nicole sat on the bed to lace her running shoes. Her sister, Nicole, had brought her into the world of hunting one year ago. The two sisters had hunted together for several weeks in San Diego with her sister's old cell. Kristen then chose to move to Ohio when she heard of a dangerous predator that was hunting there. That online friend who had tipped her off was Nancy. Nancy, Matt, Sarah and Phex had rounded out their hunter cell that Kristen had been a part in Ohio. Unknown to her Nicole, this new cell had brought Kristen into a pharmaceutical company that had trained her in subduing and abducting monsters. Kristen told herself that they were protecting people, but she was hesitant to explain it to Nicole. Several months ago, Kristen had received a surgery from the company because Nancy and Matt had encouraged her to do so. They were right- the surgery did make her job easier as it helped her to pick out monsters. After the first surgery, she asked for something to help her subdue the monsters more easily. Now as they were preparing to go into a hunt together, Kristen was nervous about how to tell her sister and her new cell about these surgeries.

Kristen looked over to the photograph of the cell that Nicole had been hunting with while Kristen had been away. Darren, Seryna and Jenny Ward were siblings. Nicole had briefly explained that they had been raised by a family of hunters and that they had a unique ability that was helpful for hunting. It had confused Kristen and she wasn't sure what these people could do. Yet each Ward sibling had been warm and welcoming to Kristen. Bringing Nancy and Matt along on the hunt felt like a 'many hands make light work' to Kristen, but they had not had much time to talk about Kristen's desire to tell Nicole and the Ward family about her surgical implants. She didn't feel like it was her right to disclose about Matt and Nancy's surgeries, yet it would likely come up. Kristen rubbed her hands over her eyes, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on.

Opening her eyes as Nicole searched for the car keys on her dresser, Kristen's attention was attracted to a cork board right over Nicole's writing desk. On it was a picture of Nicole and Kristen, smiling – it was taken a year ago. Kristen recognized the short haircut that she had chosen impulsively. Slipped in right next to it was a picture of Nicole, Jenny and Seryna in a boat, wearing life vests and smiling into the camera. There was another photo of Darren and Jenny mugging up a pose for the photographer, likely Nicole. There were half a dozen candid shots of the Ward family and Nicole on the cork board.

Frowning, Kristen exited the room. She walked down the hall and entered her own room. Her desk had the powerful personal computer- her most valuable possession. Kristen slid into the comfortable office chair and started up the computer, trying to pinpoint why she felt so uneasy. She was lucky that Nicole had no idea how expensive this computer was and had never thought of how Kristen had been able to afford it as a secretary. Her own desk had a single photograph- one taken four years ago of Kristen, Nicole, their mother, Carol and their older brother, Jon. It wasn't odd for Nicole to have pictures of her life here, Kristen reminded herself. I don't have any recent pictures of the two of us, after all. When had they drifted so far apart? It had to have been when Kristen had moved away to pursue her own hunting career. These feeling of loneliness and jealously had been of her own doing. She and Nicole had only hunted together for barely two months before Kristen had moved across the country. Nicole hadn't taken it well. She'd kept the two-bedroom apartment, Kristen noted. Maybe she had hoped that I would come back home.

Kristen had returned barely a full day earlier, flying in with Nancy and Matt. She had spent nearly every day with Nancy and Matt in the last year. She got along well with Nancy, but could clash with Matt. She was naturally a problem solver and a take charge sort of person. Matt had been in the Army and considered his tactical experience superior to her civilian and they had initially clashed. They had sorted it out with a newfound respect for one another only after Kristen had initiated a physical fight. Matt was respectful of a woman who could hold her own, especially in their dangerous world. She was embarrassed to realize that he'd assumed she'd come up as the Affirmative action girl, riding on a pretty face and a good body.

Nicole, Kristen, Matt and Nancy reported to the address with trepidation. It was only two blocks away from Dr. Hollandale's home and three blocks from their own apartment. Nicole pauses as she notes a young girl at the window of the Channing home where Kristen, Nancy and Matt are being admitted inside. The Channings have lived in Santee for fifteen years. The solemn look in young Sydney's eyes bothered Nicole. She hoped that this wouldn't upset the girl too much. The blonde hurried up the walk to the front porch, recognizing the uniform guarding the crime tape as a local. Nicole smiles with the young officer, pausing to catch up for just a moment. She wanted to hurry to talk with Detective Kim, but remembering Officer Corele took just a moment of her time.

Nicole carefully took in the chalk outline of the body- snapping a photograph with her digital camera. She turned her head and noticed the thick shrubs that framed the doorway of the house. There was a spray of blood on the doorway – and a small pool on the tile porch. The former police officer carefully avoided the sectioned area of porch and entered the house. She moved briskly past white clad forensics workers as they moved over the living room. Nicole turned and studied the entryway from the hall, noting that the door didn't look tampered with at all. Kim was speaking with a man in a suit. When he saw her, he motioned for her to join him the hall where they could speak without being overheard.

"The victim was killed one the front porch in a violent struggle, cause of death was blood loss. " He stated, pausing to watch her. "There's not enough blood at the porch to account for that," Nicole objected. "- do you think that the body was moved?"

"You really ought to have stayed on the job." Kim remarked. "There were two small marks on the neck of the victim, like the prongs of a barbeque fork. From the evidence on the body and the eye witness accounts, the death happened on the porch. We entered to investigate the welfare of the homeowner and found the homeowner out. The car is gone, so it's possible she was out that night."

"What were the eye witness reports?"

"A sharp yell, the sounds of a fight – Mr. Channing opened the door to see a man bleeding on the porch. He advised his wife to call 911 while he applied pressure. In addition to the two prick marks, there was a ragged laceration on the victim's neck. Channing never noticed the prick marks. No one answered the door to this home when he knocked, but the door was unlocked."

A vampire- was Nicole's first thought. The laceration on the neck threw her- as was the public site of the murder. She turned her head as she scanned the home, noting the tasteful kitchen decorated in green and brown, the granite counter island that was set with a tea tray holding a spray of fake flowers.

"No suspects. The victim's name is Brandon Sanders."

Nicole's heart thudded in her chest as she turned to face him.

"Brandon Sanders- about twenty-five, dark hair?"

Kim's face became somber. "You knew him?"

"Yes." Nicole exhaled slowly, feeling saddened and confused. "He grew up with us. He's a good guy."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Kim sighed. "I'm pushing for a quick close on this, no way will I be able to find the real killer to arrest, right?"

"No." Nicole said sadly. "I think it's my sort of case."

"Thanks for coming so quick."

"When was the body found?"

"Around six twenty a.m."

Nicole said her goodbyes and exited the house, walking over to the Channing home. Natsuki opened the door immediately, admitting Nicole with a solemn look. "Your sister and everyone's in the living room." The teenage girl shared. She departed quickly, ascending the stair case. Nicole walked into the living room to find Mao and her friends drinking coffee.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Mao." She hugged her neighbor. "Will you be helping the police?" Mao inquired. She looked pale and drawn.

"No, I don't think so." It wouldn't do for the neighbors to know about the activities of the cell. She glanced over at Kristen's cell mates, Nancy and Matt. Nancy was in her thirties with chocolate brown eyes, dark brown almost black hair and was wearing a fitted T-shirt with a blue phone box on it. The sort in use in London, Nicole guessed. Matt set his coffee mug on a stone coaster, setting it just so. He wore a blue plaid button up and dark gray tactical pants. Matt was fighting a burgeoning beer belly and was good looking, with black hair that he wore close cropped and blue eyes.

"Mao's told us all about last night," Kristen told her sister. "- it wasn't a good time. " She rose and placed a comforting arm on Mao's shoulder. "We won't make you go through it all over again. Thank you for talking with us."

"Of course." Mao gave Kristen a tight smile. "It's good that you're home, Kristen."

"Thank you." Kristen smiled. "We'll see you around."

"Yes," Mao nodded, sounding distracted. "- that would be nice. "

The four hunters piled into Nicole's car and turned it towards the home of Seryna and Jenny Ward. As Nicole drove, Kristen explained what Mao had recounted about the events of the morning. "She stated that she found her husband crouched over the body of the victim, pressing his hands against the man's throat. Blood was on his hands and shirt. She stated that she saw someone in the hedges behind her husband – someone running away from her house. He was so close to her husband that she was afraid that he was going to be attacked, too. She called 911 and joined her husband on her neighbor's porch. By the time she reached him, that person was gone."

"The vampire." Nicole interjected. She summarized what the Detective had explained and what she had seen at the crime scene. "Unusual for a vampire to be seen like this." Matt offered up from the back seat.

"That and the murder right on somebody's front porch." Matt frowned. "I've never been on a hunt that started like this."

At the Wards, Jenny booted up the computer for Nicole to upload the photo from her camera to her online backup. The group discussed the investigation so far to get Jenny and Seryna up to speed. Jenny suggested that the attack could have been about the victim, Brandon Sanders.

"I'll swing by and talk to his brother," Nicole stated sadly. "- I can't believe that this could be a target on Brandon. He was a nice guy."

"There could be a reason a vampire would target him," Matt pointed out. "- could he be a hunter?"

"I highly doubt it… but no, I don't know for sure." Nicole realized. "I'll ask his brother, see if we have any clues."

"So you track Brandon's whereabouts on the day that he died," Kristen muses. "- I think that we should be on the lookout for the vampire. We don't know why Brandon was targeted. It could be that he was simply heading home and a vampire attacked him and Brandon fled." She glanced to Matt and Nancy. "How about we drive around the neighborhood, see if there's any sign of a vampire."

"We'll head to the local club tonight," Seryna stated. "- see if we see any vampire activity."

"See any activity? How will you tell?" Nancy inquired.

"We've had experience." Seryna stated cryptically. Nicole noted that the Wards didn't seem willing to open up to Kristen's friends. The cell had always worked well together before. Nicole worried if three new hunters was going to be too many for this close-knit group. The Wards were familiar with hunting with family, not friends of her sister. They were acquainted with Kristen but Nicole wouldn't call them close.

The cell went their separate ways and Nicole and Kristen returned to their apartment.

"It's terrible about Brandon." Kristen sighed as she sank into the love seat in the living room. "How long has it been since we saw him?"

"I ran into him in the store a couple of weeks back." Nicole said. "We exchanged numbers, said we'd do something... but then I never called him." She sank into a straight backed chair around the small four person kitchen table off of the kitchen.

"I should have called him."

Kristen rose and walked behind her sister, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You couldn't have known."

Nicole shrugged off the hand, turning away. "No, of course I couldn't know that he was about to be murdered. But right on somebody's front porch? Matt lives a block over. What was he doing on the Channing's neighbors' porch?"

"Good point." Kristen sat across from Nicole. "We should try and place his day before he was murdered. I'm starting to hope that this was just wrong place, wrong time."

"It's a terrible case," Nicole sighed, shaking her head. "- a friend from school is murdered right in our backyard. Why? Why a body now? Three men go missing and no sign of them, but-"

"Three men are missing?" Kristen leaned forward. "You never told us, Matt, Nancy, me - about missing people."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Nicole shook her head. "I meant to ask for your help, but I was distracted by Brandon's death. Over the last week, three men of gone missing. Mid twenties to thirties, all Caucasian. They didn't seem to know each other, or at least we can't figure out how they did. Two attended Helix high, one attended Santana."

"When did the first one go missing?"

"Last Friday."

"So six days ago. What's his name?"

"David McGrueger. 26 year old data entry clerk."

"About the same age as Brandon," Kristen pointed out. "- so it might be connected. Lets get a nap in before we go see Brandon's brother."

Later that evening, the cell calls Matt, Nancy and the Wards to meet them at the site where the last three missing men had been seen. The last car, Jenny and Seryna, pulls into the parking lot at seven. The group gathers around their sedan, speaking quietly but not attracting any notice.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Nicole frowned, checking her watch. "- and its only 7. Let's just do a scout and get to know each other better. We can hunt this weekend."

"Really?" Matt frowned, glancing around the parking lot. The three cars had parked behind the taco shop which shared a parking lot with the taco shop, Les Girls and a newly opened dance club. At this hour, the most traffic was to the taco shop and only a handful of people were in sight.

"We have a serious problem." Matt continued, growing more agitated as he spoke. "Three men went missing from this parking lot in the last week. If we wait much longer, we could be knee deep in dead people. What if the missing people are being turned into vampires? That could be four fangs for us to try and put down!"

"If we rush in, we could be the missing people." Seryna chastised, irritation clouding her voice. Matt threw her an irritated glance, but Kristen shook her head at Matt.

"Don't," She said quietly. "- I know what you're feeling, but don't. We need to be careful."

"You don't know what I'm feeling," Matt snapped angrily. "- and we can't sit on our butts."

"That's enough. You want to hunt with us, you do the time to get it right." Nicole stated firmly. Her face was flushing but she worked on keeping her voice calm.

"Matt," Nancy stated quietly, gesturing for Matt to walk off with her. Matt tossed his head but wordlessly agreed, walking off with Nancy down the alleyway, out of earshot.

"Kristen, what the hell?" Darren asked, irritated. "Can your friend handle this, or not?"

"He's good at his job," Kristen assured quietly. "- but he has some anger issues with vampires. They've taken a lot from him. "

"We all have issues, Kristen," Jenny stated quietly, watching Matt and Nancy. "We can't be impulsive. Seryna was right – if we rush in, we could lose each other."

"I know," Kristen assured. "- and he'll be okay. I know that everyone isn't comfortable with the situation."

She looked around the faces staring at her as she tried to think of how to guide the group towards being accepting of Matt.

The conflict between them and Matt was concerning. Kristen had enjoyed hunting with Nancy and Matt. At the same time, she wanted to get to know the Wards better. Could they get along?

"It's dangerous and we can't lose our heads out there." Darren stated quietly.

"Matt has a problem keeping his temper," Kristen admitted. "It is something that he's working on. Matt and Nancy are very good at their jobs. We hunted together for months and I trust them."

"Does he lose his temper during the hunt?" Jenny questioned.

"Sometimes." Kristen responded honestly. "There are times that I get emotional, too. This isn't easy."

"No, it's not. Nothing about this job is easy." Nicole agreed. "I'm glad that you're hunting with us, Kristen. If your friends want to help, that's good for us."

"Hey," Matt stated as he and Nancy walked forward. "- I'm sorry. I don't know why I acted like I'm the only one that cares about this. "

"This is your neighborhood," Nancy stated quietly, looking apologetic. "- and we're happy to help."

"You sure?" Nicole asked, studying Matt.

Matt looked abashed, staring down at the floor. He scuffed his shoes for a moment. The others watched him quietly. Finally, he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure. You were right."

"It's okay," Darren stated quietly, " - we all have bad days."

Matt glanced up at Darren, briefly meeting his eyes. "Thanks."

Kristen nodded, glancing around the parking lot. The shadows were beginning to lengthen and she was impatient to hunt before full darkness fell.

"I say we break into two teams to scout the outside and decide if this is where people are disappearing. "

"Okay." Nicole nodded. "I think that's a good idea. But I'd like to talk this over for a sec, if that's all right." Nicole looked to Matt and Nancy.

"Yeah." Matt stated. "What's on your mind?"

"We haven't hunted together before." Seryna stated, matter of fact. "And we don't know you very well. I'd like to talk about ourselves for a minute."

Kristen glanced towards Nicole. Seryna and Nicole had already discussed this without her, it seemed. What else had they been discussing without her?

"You want to know about us, too." Nancy suggested, smiling agreeably.

"Yeah," Seryna nodded, returning the smile. "- I hope that we don't come off as a clique. I hate snobs. I just want us to be safe tonight. This is Jenny's first hunt without our uncle and cousins."

"Your whole family hunts?" Matt stated incredibly. "That's pretty special. And hey, congrats, Jenny."

"I've hunted before." Jenny stated, giving her sister an irritated look. "I don't like it when you single me out like this. I don't want a babysitter."

"I'm sorry," Seryna apologized. "- I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"So Seryna," Nancy stepped closer to Seryna.

"What was your first monster?"

"Ah, first that I met or first that I hunted?"

"Hunted."

"A ghoul," Seryna grimaced. "- it looked very human. It was nasty, though. It was hunting for its' master." She glanced over to Matt.

"What about you?"

Matt gave Kristen a quick glance before meeting Seryna's eyes. Kristen wondered how Matt would feel about revealing their Cherion company connection to Nicole and the Wards. His body language seemed apprehensive as he crossed his arms.

"A vampire." He stated boldly. "He gave up a friend, so we hit that one too. Then we just kept rolling."

"Good, you've hunted vampires' before." Darren smiled. "That's a relief. We can skip the whole mind altering crap. Isn't it the worst explaining it to people?"

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "- it sucks hard."

"So what are you packing?" Nicole questioned. "I have a license to carry and I brought my gun. I plan on using this, though." She lifted her light jacket to reveal a large knife strapped to her hip.

"I have a .44," Matt informs. "- but no license in this state, so I left it at the hotel. I have this," He moves the heavier jacket that he's wearing aside to show a machete in a custom sleeve in his jacket.

The group went around and shared what they had brought to the hunting party. Nancy had brought a knife strapped to her ankle and a wooden stake concealed as something else in her flashlight holster on her belt. The necessity of concealing their weapons meant that Darren, Seryna and Jenny were wearing heavier hoodies than the weather made comfortable. Darren had a wooden stake, a fixed blade knife and a multipurpose lighter. Seryna had brought a custom weapon that she had crafted herself- a lighter affixed to a can of hairspray. Her favored weapon was concealed as a cane- the rubber stopper on the end concealed a pointed wooden stake. She demonstrated how she could use it as a spear. Jenny brought only her three staples. She had a small knife concealed in her bra, a mace canister attached to her key ring and a stake. Kristen had brought only her own custom weapon- a wooden stake with a punch dagger handle.

In past hunts, she had been able to use her other abilities. Matt and Nancy were going to be in the same position of hunting without the full range of their skills. Kristen was suddenly feeling unprepared. What if Matt and Nancy were overwhelmed out here and reacted to save someone's life, revealing their implants? It would be a hard sell to talk those off as anything natural. Kristen began to feel acid bubbling in her stomach. She breathed shallowly through her mouth. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe slowly.

"I'd like to check out the alleys." Matt offered.

"Okay, Matt, Nancy, Kristen and Jenny - check out the alleys. The rest of us check out the buildings together. Meet back at the cars in twenty. We're looking for signs of a vampire. A hidden place or a predator trying to lure someone private." Nicole clarified. "Call for help if you see anyone suspicious."

The group quickly separated. Kristen and Matt began to walk quickly towards the alley behind the taco shop with Jenny and Nancy following a few feet behind.

"Matt, you got to keep your cool," Kristen stated quietly. "- Nicole really likes these people. Not to mention we need all the help that we can get."

"I said that I was sorry," Matt reminded, glancing back at Jenny worriedly. "Can talk about this later?"

"We need to tell them eventually," Kristen reminded.

"- especially my sister."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Matt shook his head. "They don't seem like the type to understand what we've been through." He glanced at the debris on the floor, stepping around it as he continued quietly.

"I get that you want to be honest with your sister. Ordinarily, I agree. Yet its' not just yourself that you're exposing."

"This isn't primetime news, Matt." Kristen insisted, offended at his choice of words. "Expose? They won't do anything to hurt us. They're my family. They would care enough for us to let us explain."

"You sound like you're doing a lot of justifying to yourself." Matt noted. "Why are you so defensive? If you think that this is the right thing, shouldn't your conscience be clear?"

"Let's just get through tonight," Kristen stated quietly, frowning. They walked in silence for a moment before Kristen couldn't hold in her concerns.

"I don't want to lie to them."

"You want to be completely honest?" Matt asked, pausing to check a door leading into one of the buildings.

"I don't think we should tell them. At least not yet." Matt continued. "Not tonight. Let's just worry about this another time."

"How do you think the hunt is going to work?" Kristen asked. "They won't wonder where the monster disappears to?"

"Hey," Jenny whispered as she and Nancy close the distance. "- wait up."

"What?" Matt follows Jenny's gaze towards a dark corner of the alley. "Huh," He frowns. "- I thought that headed towards the residential area of downtown."

"What's that?" Jenny wonders, walking closer. "Yeah. Look, at this." She reached out and slid a dumpster away from the wall, revealing a black void in the brick building.

"Wait-!" Nancy cries in alarm as something barrels past Jenny. A glint of light flashes as Matt makes a pained cry. A figure hurtles out of the shadows wielding a large serrated knife. Matt presses his hand to a bleeding gash on his right shoulder. Matt attempts to grab onto the man as he hurtles past, but the man is supernaturally quick.

"What are you doing?" Kristen exclaims as she blocks the route out to the alley. The careening figure slows as it attempts to maneuver past Kristen's outstretched hands. He stands an inch taller than Kristen at 5'10'', has wide set shoulders and looks to be a brawler. Kristen lunges forward, trying to grasp his right arm. The man fights her off and Kristen is swung against the alley wall, hanging onto the man's wrist.

"You don't want to do this!" He succeeds in ripping free of Kristen's grasp.

"What is that?" Jenny asked, gesturing to the wall. She moved closer, turning on her flashlight to look within. The light pierced a large, open space. Dust motes fell through the air.

"Get away." The man barked, roughly shoving Jenny away from the opening. "Get away from there. You need to get out."

"No." Jenny retorted, trying to move around the man. "Get out of the way. Are you abducting people? Are you the one who killed Brandon?"

"Whose Brandon?" The man turned as Kristen began to move slowly up behind him.

"I wouldn't." He stated, his tone menacing. He lifted the knife, lowering himself into a firm footing. The knife was serrated, dangerous looking. His wrist moved easily as he lowered his center of gravity. He was an experienced knife fighter, Kristen recognized. She glanced behind her. The alleyway was empty. She doubted anyone would come to screams. She turned her attention back to the man, squaring up for a fight.

As he is distracted by Kristen, Nancy jumps on him from behind. She loops both arms around his neck, attempting to close a choke hold.

"Stop!" Kristen shouts at the man, hurrying to Nancy's aid.

"Who sent you?" The man wonders as he wrestles with Nancy.

"Help!" Nancy yelps as the man gains a firm hold on Nancy's wrist. The man grips her arms firmly and bends forward, preparing to hurl Nancy off of him.

"Stop fighting us!" Jenny shouts as she hurries to grapple for the right arm that he is holding Nancy with. Jenny has more luck than Kristen had and secures the man's arm in her armpit, her hands clasped firmly on his arm.

"Hang on!" Matt encourages from behind the man, choosing to lunge to get his arms around the man's waist. Matt cinches his arms around the man's waist, ducking his head in close to the man's back. Kristen pulls out her cell phone, punching the auto dial for her sister's number. That is all she can do as the man begins to wrench this way and that, tearing Kristen's eyes from her cell phone.

The man swears creatively and profusely, throwing back his head as he tests the grips that hold him.

"You're going to regret this!"

He grunts as he shrugs his massive shoulders, hurling his right shoulder towards the alley wall and Nancy along with it. Nancy strikes the cold grungy wall, but closes her eyes and grips the man tightly, jostling painfully as he attempts to throw her.

"Let's get him down," Jenny shouted. "On his back, now!"

"Get off!" The man snarls, letting loose with another string of curses. "You can't be here! This is our territory!"

"Hang on," Kristen encourages. "- I'm getting the others!" Into the phone she barked. "First alley from Les Girls. Hurry!"

From behind the man, Matt uses his legs and body weight to push the man to the ground. Nancy releases her hold and falls down onto the ground beside the two men. Matt keeps a strong grip onto his opposite wrist to keep a tight grip on the man's waist. Jenny is pulled off balance by the movement and her own attempt to bring down the man's arm is thwarted, causing her to jerk off balance.

The man crows in triumph as he throws his head back, catching Matt full in the face. As Matt loses his grip, the man heaves himself onto his left side. Jenny calmly applies an overpowering move, bending the man's arm and guiding him in a controlled descent to the ground. Matt attempts to gain another hold on the man but cannot. His position lying on the ground is blocked by the others. Nancy attempts to help Jenny immobilize the man, but he is able to resist her. Kristen drops the phone in its' hip case and moves in to kneel on the man's outstretched legs.

"Don't move," Jenny orders. "- stop moving."

The man struggles, grunting from the effort yet Jenny has cinched in her hold perfectly.

"Stop." Jenny commands again.

Matt kneels beside Jenny, pushing the man's shoulders down to the ground. Nancy kneels on the man's left wrist to help subdue him.

"Why did you attack us?" Jenny demands.

"You're not..." The man peers up into Jenny's eyes. "I'll be damned. How did you all learn to fight like that?" He struggles briefly. "Let me go. Trust me, you've stepped in it."

"We're not letting you go. Are you the one abducting people?" Kristen demands.

The man stops struggling and laughs, relaxing in Jenny's grip. This complete lack of concern was discomforting. Nancy moved off of the man and gestured for Matt to show her his arm. Matt shook his head vehemently, keeping both hands firmly on pinning the man's shoulders. Kristen reached down and plucked up the knife, inspecting it. It was fine quality - single fixed blade. "You stabbed him for no reason," Kristen gestured with the knife. "- so you're the one in a lot of trouble."

"You'll be giving that back to me," The man stated calmly. There was a clatter of feet as Darren, Nicole and Seryna ran to join their group.

Seryna noticed the blood seeping through Matt's shirt sleeve. "Darren," Seryna gestures for Darren to take Matt's place. Darren, Jenny, Nancy and Kristen each take a moment to get a firm grip on the man. The four slowly ease the man into a standing position. The four prodded the man into holding his hands behind his back to be tied. Once he was secured, Jenny and Darren kept a firm grip on him and frog walked him back to the car.

Nancy and Seryna tended to Matt's cut, each realizing that the other was no stranger to medicine. Nancy was an experienced nurse while Seryna had been raised to treat illness and injury with holistic medicine. The two glued the shallow wound with Nancy's first aid kit right there in the alley. The group hurried into their cars and pulled away from the alley, hurtling towards Seryna and Jenny's house with the assailant in the trunk. If there was a vampire in that opening, they didn't want to encounter it at its home where all of the monster's defenses were set. Yet this posed the problem- was the man a ghoul, a slave of the vampire? Or was he mentally ill? The two weren't exclusive to the other.


	2. Chapter 2

Two cars pulled up into the Wards' driveway, pausing while the garage doors opened. Seryna and Nicole pulled their vehicles into the garage, while Darren parked his in the driveway.

"Let's have a talk inside, without it." Darren suggested. His sisters followed him readily while Matt gestured over to Nancy and Kristen. He gave them a meaningful glance. Seeing this, Nicole hesitated at after entering the house. Kristen, Nancy and Matt stood with their backs to the door, watching the closed trunk where the man thumped angrily.

"It's' not a vampire," Matt said quietly. "- no twitch."

Nicole stepped back out into the garage, watching the quiet conversation. She leaned back into the house, out of sight of the three yet straining to overhear.

"It was fast," Kristen noted in her normal voice. "– it got you and shoved Jenny before Nancy and I could react. That suggests that its' not entirely human."

"No, I don't think that it is. We could follow it to its master."

"What about the others?" Nancy questions. "I doubt the Wards and your sister will be all right with our methods."

"We aren't doing anything illegal in their living room." Kristen insisted. "Look, let's get back- "

"Hey, what's up?" Darren asked, walking up behind Nicole. Nicole startled, motioning Darren to be quiet. She took his arm, pulling him off towards the bathroom.

"I think that Kristen's friends have another agenda." Nicole whispered. "Something about following it to its' master… and methods."

"Your sister and you haven't hunted in a bit." Darren spoke normally. "I think that you need to remember that. She's been working with these friends- as you've been working with us."

He leaned in, studying Nicole's face. Nicole glanced away, unhappy with the scrutiny.

"You haven't spoken. Not really. You should do that, Nicole. No, look at me. Nicole," He insisted quietly. Calmly. Sometimes that calm irritated Nicole, but the insistency did cause her to look towards her cell mate.

"-you're avoiding the subject with her. Why? Are you not in the habit of opening up with her?"

"She's my sister. We open up plenty."

"Not about the hunt. She caught you in a lie about that, right?" Darren needled, earning an irritated glance. "You're not the big sister teaching her about this in the Hunt, Nicole. She left – and you were mad about that. Mad that you couldn't protect her. But maybe a little mad that you couldn't teach her."

"I could have taught her so much more."

"You had been hunting for six days before you were hospitalized. She has just as much experience as you do. This isn't a punch card; six punches get you master professor rights. Don't lecture her."

"Yeah, you let Jenny have so much freedom."

"Don't do that. You're deflecting." Darren jerked, not liking the barb in Nicole's voice. "Yes, I need to work at not seeing Jenny as a child. But we're not talking about me- I'm talking about you lurking on private conversations. This isn't how you have a healthy relationship with your sister."

"I missed when you got a degree in psychology."

"Fine," Darren put up his hands. "- be defensive and angry. Its' so helpful right now." There was an angry bite to his tone as he strode away.

"Okay, so we missed most of what happened in that alley," Darren spoke loudly, cutting over private conversations in the living room, not waiting for Nicole to join the group. She entered as he was saying. "- happened, Matt?"

"He came out swinging the blade," Matt began, giving a quick description of the fight. "He was fast – and he knows how to use that knife. We need to be very careful when we get him out of that car."

"What are we going to do?" Jenny asked. "I felt how strong he was. I missed my first two holds on him and I feel damn lucky to have caught him when I did. I feel like something is wrong with him."

"My guess is that he's a ghoul." Nancy stated, taking a seat on the couch. "- he gets supernatural strength from suckling from a vampire. I always envisioned it like the old history accounts suggest that the Puritans saw witches feeding familiars. We've heard stories that they can get other powers from this relationship."

"Like what?" Jenny asked.

"Strength. Speed. Unexplained knowledge that seems almost like telepathy. The ability to shrug off wounds that should cripple a man or accelerated healing."

"I certainly saw the speed," Jenny nodded. "- he came out before I registered him. I was staring right at that space, too."

"He was strong. It took all four of us to get him down." Matt stated. "I also felt lucky to have done so when we did. Getting at his hands was a good idea," He looked at the women who had done so. "- if he'd had free range to swing that knife, it could have had a very different ending."

"Which brings us back to if he's going to be a problem when we question him." Seryna stated, sitting in the computer chair and rolling it to sit beside Nancy. "I certainly think that we need to ask him a few questions."

"Let's not forget that in the eyes of the law, he's a man. We have to be careful in the questioning or we're looking at jail time." Nicole said pointedly, not meeting Kristen's gaze.

"You have that friend, Kim." Kristen brought up. She frowned as Nicole nodded, glancing at Matt and not at her. "What if you told him we made a citizens' arrest and he can have him? We ask him the cop – free questions in the time it takes him to scramble cops over here."

"And we'll just say that he attacked us?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah," Nicole nodded. "-I'll do that."

"So you two think of what to ask him." Darren suggested, indicating Nicole and Kristen. "You're bona fide Private Investigators. The rest of us will get him out of the car. Nancy and Jenny, the three of us will pull him out. Matt, could you block the exit from the garage. Seryna, you stay by the garage door and witness, shout if you see any of the creepy, unexplained powers. We all need to be very careful not to get grabbed."

"Could you record?" Nicole suggested, handing Seryna her camcorder. "For the Network."

"Sure.' Seryna agreed, beginning to record as the three approached the car.

Kristen placed the dining room chair in the center of the living room while Nicole grabbed the duct tape.

"He's likely going to resist all efforts at finding his master. Or where his master lives. We should come at him from what Kim won't discover. Why he was in that alley- why he attacked us. Whose territory that is."

"That's good," Nicole nodded as Kristen continued. "We need to establish how long he's been here- maybe reference the power outage last Easter and the gunman scare at the community college last month."

"I'll try and think of questions with those," Nicole said slowly, noticing that Kristen was excited. She barely waited for Nicole to stop talking before continuing.

"We need to see if there are other ghouls. Ask if he's working with anyone. If anyone is waiting on him. Who we'll find in that opening in the alley."

"That's very worrisome, that opening." Nicole nodded.

"Yeah," Kristen slowed, thinking for a moment. "I doubt it would be a lair, in a public alley. But what if it went through- if it's like a tunnel?"

"It's' going to be creepy going in there." Nicole sighed.

Kristen swore as she remembered that the police would want to know where the man had attacked them.

"Your friend. He shouldn't go in there."

"You're right… we're going to have to say that he attacked us here."

"At the house?"

"It sounds better than saying we threw him in a trunk. I can't believe I didn't think of how that's going to look." Nicole pulled the clip out of her hair, her hair falling down as she raked her fingers through it.

"Hey," Kristen put an arm around her. "- you're shaking."

"Adrenaline." Nicole smiled weakly. "Your phone call really scared me."

"I didn't even think of that."

"You weren't scared." Nicole said slowly.

"What? No. Of course, I was."

"I'm the one shaking." Nicole laughed nervously. "You're jacked. Excited? I was the one whose scared."

"Jacked? No. Okay, maybe I'm not processing it right. But if this guy knows who killed Brandon and took those men, we need to know. I'm just trying to figure it out as fast as I can. Before the cops get here. Before…"

"Before what?"

"I don't know. I was thinking of something else. Worrying about that tunnel."

A slew of curse words in a deep voice announced the arrival of the guest. "Okay." Nicole checked her watch. "Five minutes. In case anyone saw us pull in." She set her stop watch.

Jenny and Darren wrestled the man down into the chair as Nicole duct taped him in place.

"Your little hidey hole," Kristen leaned in front of the man. "Do you live there? You don't look homeless."

"I live with your momma." The man twisted in his chair, trying to look at Darren.

"So we're going to go back in a few minutes. With some fire. Some real nice torches," Nicole walked behind the man. "- how many of your little friends are we going to find?"

"Maybe a whole bunch. I'm a popular guy." The man smirked, checking his bounds. "You did this nice. You into this sort of thing?"

"Eh, just something I picked up around that blackout last year. We found some friends of yours. Toasted them up nice."

The mans' eyes narrowed as he tried to turn around and look at Nicole. Darren squatted in front of the man, studying his face.

"See, we figure that they'll be tougher. More badass than you." On cue, Jenny stepped up beside her brother, all 5 foot 6 inches of her.

"My little sister might need a hand. Won't be as weak as you."

"She might need a casket." The man scowled, struggling. "What did you say about last year, that you torched some homeless guys?"

"Nah, man. Vampires." Matt smiled, leaning in close to the man. Too close. Kristen and Nicole shifted uncomfortable with Matt's closeness to the ghoul. Both women were recalling terrible memories of the last ghoul that they had encountered. Nicole unconsciously rubbed her hand, wincing. Kristen put her arm around her sister, moving behind the man and out of his line of sight.

"Vampires," Matt repeated boldly. "- real lazy mothers, too. Seemed all terrifying at night, but middle of the day? Like blind school children."

The man tested his bonds.

"This one was a redhead," Nicole spoke quietly, feeding a line of truth. "- she had a girl with her."

The man went still.

"I felt kind of bad for the girl." Darren said. He was looking at the floor. "She looked young. Like she just stepped off of a college campus somewhere. Ought to be driving back to her moms'. Not dressed like some slut, strung out and crazy. Not…"

The captive turned and looked at Darren. The two men locked eyes.

"Not dead."

The man lurched, rocked the chair.

"You killed Summer."

"Worst name ever for a ghoul." Matt observed dryly. "Like Snowflake. Sunny and Cher."

"She wasn't- "The man shuddered, looking down. Closed his eyes.

Nicole glanced to Kristen, worried that the man was composing himself. Steeling himself.

"It was the vampire who threw Summer in like she was a doggie treat," Nicole said, forcing her voice to be callous. "She tried to run."

"No, Ka- she wouldn't. She had a fearsome- "

"Fearsome fear of fire. Like I said. Torches." Kristen leaned in over the man's shoulder, speaking quietly into his ear.

"Maybe your friends don't have to die. The ones' that aren't eating people. Maybe we look into rehab, or just admit there's no help for being a vamp junkie and look the other way."

The man didn't move a muscle.

"So they die, then." Kristen straightened. "That's okay. That's what we do. The business we're in. Speaking of, territory. Who sent us. That's' what you said, right? So, does someone have an eye on your territory? Someone who's not a pushover like you?"

"Yeah, we need a challenge." Matt walked around the chair.

"Too easy." Jenny smirked. She carried it off.

"Oh, you find the coterie?" The man smiled. "They'll carve you up."

"See, you're not the first vamp's bitch to say that to us." Now Matt crouched in front of the man. "But thing is, you could be right. You'll still be dead, though."

"You can't scare me." The man smiled. "I've been to Court."

"The Court?"

The man's eyes glittered. A shadow seemed to pass over his face. A bead of sweat formed on his brow.

"Maybe we want this Court," Kristen smiled, running a hand down the man's shoulder. He flinched away.

"What's the address?"

"1234 Dead Hunters."

"Okay, so you're tough. Big man." Matt smiled, punching the man in the shoulder with his good arm. The others' still saw him wince as he moved away. He stepped behind the man where he couldn't be seen holding his injured arm.

"Your friends as tough as you are?"

"You're not going to get anything there. By the time you get back, it'll be clean."

"Cleaned out?"

The man didn't respond.

"No one saw us take you."

They waited a few seconds, but the man stared resolutely forward.

"This coterie that wants your territory, maybe they don't see you around and they move in. Do they like your friends?"

The man's eyes glinted to Kristen.

"No?" Kristen smiled. "So you want us to find them before this coterie. So, this coterie. Who is it?"

"They'll eat you alive."

"The address for Court?" Matt prodded the man's back. The man tossed his head, mouth clenching.

"Always a possibility." Kristen admitted. "But assuming they don't- the boss, he a big guy?"

"It's run by a woman." The man smirked. "You don't know a thing about this. You know nothing."

"That's okay, I'm very comfortable admitting my ignorance." Kristen continued. "Why the path, though? It's just the taco shop, that new club…"

The man was silent.

"Clubs not really new," Darren put in. "- its' just gone through a hundred names. Last time you drove by, it was probably Pearl."

"I think that was the name before." Seryna said. "But the club is where you're going to? No, the club is across the parking lot."

Silence. The cell let the silence grow. He didn't need to know that they were worried about what the police might think of the timeline. The man that they suspected was a ghoul refused to speak. Darren took Kristen and Nicole's hands, pulling them out of hearing into the kitchen. "We're running out of time. We're going to try and scare him suggesting firing his Sire."

Agreeing, the three moved back as Nancy stated.

"He doesn't want to talk about the club."

"I wonder if there are vampires in the club."

"Ooh," Jenny smiled over at Darren. "- I have an idea. Maybe instead of killing him, we let him go. Hey, shouldn't you call your friend?"

Nicole's watch beeped. "Yup, time to arrange the whole release." She pulled out her cell phone, moving to the kitchen.

"What friend?" The man tried to move again.

"The friend who can tell the next buddy we catch that you told us all about Court and the club. That we'll be there soon. Then – oops- we let that guy go. How long will you be suckling vamp blood then?"

"You run a terrible catch and release program. How do you find any vampires, blind luck?"

"No. We just find them when they're hungry. This Court – that's what you're scared of? I'm guessing for it to scare you, it's pretty bad. Does it have a lot of vampires? Older vampires? Or just viscous ones?"

The man turned away.

"Hey, no problem. Look what I found." Jenny held out a black leather wallet. "It was in your pocket. I probably should have mentioned this nifty matchbook from Priceless. That sounds like a real den of whores."

"Just where I drink."

"Yeah, right where we found you. Maybe where you meet your master. Or where she hunts."

The man's head snapped around to Jenny's eyes. "Careful."

"Oh, we will be. Careful to stir the ashes twice. Need to make sure the fires completely extinguished once your friend's dead- it's a drought, after all."

The man tested his bonds. The cell fell into silence, watching him. Nicole took a picture of the man's face, moving around to get a front and side view and careful not to get any of her cell in the frame.

"Just so we can be clear on what you gave up, with visuals." Nicole explained. Taking a full picture of him in bonds, she continued. "Maybe we'll do the same with your master, but with chains. Really strong, thick stuff so he can't escape. Is your master a guy?"

Silence.

"Oh, so you like girls. I was starting to wonder about you." The head jerked towards her.

"A girl. Okay. Maybe like Summer's master, who threw her away like trash. Is that how these women treat you?"

"I'm thinking we take the blowtorches, the molotovs. Real big fire." Matt said to Nancy.

The cell was quiet for a moment, listening to their captive. He gritted his teeth, testing his bonds.

"We leave one clear avenue. The honey pot. We grab her. We hound her with torches, so we can see the whites of her eyes. What sort of eyes does your honey have, big guy?"

"Do not speak of her."

"Blue eyes?"

"Eyes that see everything." The man snarled. "Into your doomed souls."

"Whoa, that's deep."

"Wow."

"Brown eyes?" Matt persisted.

The man jerked, attempting to rip his legs free. His legs strained against the restraints, but could get nowhere.

"Does she go for that cheesy horror thing, get colored contact lenses?" Kristen leaned in. "Gold eyes, like a wolf?"

"She would never be so crass." The man snarled. "She is a woman of class."

"Class." Kristen nodded. "I bet you think we aren't very classy."

"Trash. Filth."

"Filth." Kristen nodded. "Is that because we killed Summer?"

"Summer." The man popped his knuckles. "Summer's Sire would not throw her away."

"But she did." Nicole leaned in. "Get them, Summer. Don't sit there like a cow! You must protect me!" Nicole quoted a vampire and in the man's eyes, she saw him register the truth. He flinched.

"She tried." Nicole said quietly. "She did too well. We didn't go there for Summer. You know that."

"You deserve it all, filth." The man rumbled.

"Your sires' pretty eyes will be so happy to see you back again." Matt mused. "Once she busts you out of jail. What will you tell her?"

"Jail?"

"That's where you're going. She might not take you back. Maybe you ought to tell us where we can find her. Make sure you're free when you get out."

"Or we'll let her know you gave her up when we light her up. You'll be locked up. But when they let you out… we'll see who catches you first, us or them. Your friends at Court."

"Nobody has friends at Court." The man scoffs. "You don't know anything about it. Its' a hornet's nest."

"Like your little hole. What's in there? Just a place to drag meals? Or is it a real tunnel to somewhere?"

"Tunnel?" The man laughs.

"So it is a tunnel."

"It's a wall. How can it be a tunnel?"

"Okay, so we'll see where it leads. You've been a great help."

"I'm going to shove your teeth down your throat."

With that elegant response, Kim and his coworkers walked in. The man was taken into custody. In an irritating course of events, the group was separated for statements for nearly two hours before the detectives were satisfied. Nicole was suitably queasy about her lies about the location and his transport, but hoped no one could contradict their story.

"Not a great deal of information. I thought he'd give us something." Matt lounged in the easy chair. "I'm pretty sure that his Sire is a woman. The way he talked, too. He's not a street kid.."

"A woman of class. Perhaps she doesn't pick up just anyone. She chose him because of the way that he spoke."

"We learned that it is a tunnel- that it's a Court. A vampire court. And he knew the last group you torched." Kristen stated. "Don't forget that he practically confirmed that the club is a hotspot."

"Any club could be." Matt stated, walking around the living room. "If they see us surveying, they may just pack it up."

"Good point." Kristen nodded. "What else did anyone catch?"

The group was silent for a moment, thinking. "The coterie is run by a woman. So, we know that a woman is involved and that there's more than two in this coterie."

Kristen picked up her notebook and made a note of all the observations, taking several minutes to make a transcript of the questioning. Her notebook was half full of lists and notes. She was a visual person and loved to see things laid out on paper.

"Did you ever talk to Brandon's brother?" Seryna asked Nicole.

"Yeah." Nicole sighed at the memory. "It was rough. He's taking it hard."

Nicole explained that she had talked to Brent, Brandon's older brother. He had no clue why Brandon was on that front door. Brandon was a manager at a local hardware store. He didn't have a girlfriend and the last girl had left him to move back home out of state nearly a year ago. As far as he knew, Brandon wasn't interested in strip clubs.

"I did run a background check on him," Nicole continued. "-since Brent was nice enough to give me all this information. His boss loved him. Said he was very efficient at his job, people liked him. He'll be missed. He hadn't missed work or had any performance issues."

"So not a ghoul." Nancy deduced.

"Far as we know, no. I ran into him a few weeks ago and he looked healthy. Very personable." Nicole swallowed hard, checking her notes again.

"It's getting late." Seryna noted, checking her watch. "How about we put the case to bed for the night. If anyone's hungry, I'm going to make some omelets. Please, stay."

She looked down at her phone as it rang.

"Just a second." She excused herself.

"Omelets?" Matt wondered. "It's' night."

"Seryna and I eat smaller meals more often instead of three big meals. We'll be up for another two hours." Jenny explained. "Researching sometimes. Or I do my schoolwork."

"Well, we'll get going." Matt said as he and Nancy rose, bid goodbye and left.

Nicole yawned. "I think we should go, too." She said to Kristen.

"I'm not that tired." Kristen replied. "I could go for an omelet. I think that I'll stick around."

"Okay." Nicole said her goodbyes, popping into the kitchen to bid goodbye to Seryna, who was still on the phone. Seryna waved to Darren, who excused himself and entered the kitchen. Jenny gestured for Kristen to join her on the couch.

"I was hoping that you'd stay. We're both the youngest of hunter sibling teams."

"Oh, we are, huh."

"Yeah. Darren and Seryna are driving me nuts right now about these safety precautions. Like I'm a total idiot. Did Nicole ever make you do that?"

"What kind of precautions?"

"Boring ones." Jenny shakes her head. "When we're on a hunt, I can't even answer the door."

"You're younger than I was when we started hunting," Kristen shared. "- and Nicole was never honest about her hunts. I found out when she was hospitalized."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. It was pretty messed up. Honestly, I'd rather have open protectiveness." Kristen pauses at the lecturing tone that she had adapted. That wasn't exactly how she would feel about it. Kristen could recall the impotent rage that she had felt looking at Nicole as she lay in her hospital bed. The frustration with Nicole's friends who insisted that the police should be the only ones focused on what had happened to Nicole. If Nicole found the Wards trustworthy, then they had passed her skeptic outlook. Kristen turned to look at Jenny.

"Are they open about what's going on?"

"I guess." Jenny hedged. "Sometimes I feel like they leave me out, like I'm at the kids' table."

"Well, I won't do that. How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

Jenny was six years younger than Kristen was. When Kristen was 19, she was at Basic Training, struggling with diet restrictions and feelings of inadequacy during training. Kristen had not dealt well when her sister had excluded her from her hunting in the beginning.

"I won't do that," Kristen assures, looking over to the youngest Ward. Kristen realizes how Jenny has moved to her, their knees are touching. She's leaning forward with her upper body, listening intently. Kristen realizes that she has been sizing her up like she does her clients – trying to gauge if they're being honest with her. Kristen doubted that Jenny would be playing her with those wide open blue eyes.

Kristen decides to be certain. The brunette closes her eyes and rolling them back in her head, finding a small bit of circuitry there and presses. This activates a little gift from the Company. When she opens her eyes, and looks at Jenny, the hunter sees a haze of color.

These are Devils Eyes – eyes harvested from a vampire and hardwired with circuitry into the eye. They look normal to everyone else, but they have enhanced Kristen's sight. She can determine emotional states. It's been a huge help in her harvesting career. Kristen's willingness to undergo the surgery was what put her on one of the most active harvesting locations. That and her ability to decipher what is seen as a monster or person. When Kristen surveys Jenny, she instantly feels like a jerk. The color that sparkles around her like dissipating bubbles is hope… and something a shimmery green that can't quite be identified. But it's not a threatening color.

"Are you okay?" She asks, touching Kristen's shoulder gently. "Your eyes did a rolling thing."

"Maybe just acclimating to the heat," Kristen lies, feeling worse. "It was still April showers in Ohio."

"I've never been to Ohio… is it really so backwards?"

"So backwards? What have you heard?"

"Hillbilly twang, and banjos… Deliverance…"

"Ouch, Deliverance." Kristen winces. "It's nothing like that. They're nice, open people. I have a hard time understanding directions, mostly. Its 'turn where the old barn used to be'… and I'm like, 'what's there now?' and its 'Well, an empty field where the barn used to be…' "

Jenny giggled leaning against Kristen's shoulder and Kristen felt herself relax, watching the colors haze around her. She was genuine in her emotions, not hiding a thing.

"I hope you're not a vegetarian," Seryna is striding in carrying a food tray. Darren walked in behind her. He carries calmness most times but as Kristen looks at him with her Devil's Eyes, she can see a haze of color. Kristen glances over to Seryna and sees the same colors mirrored there. Jenny is getting ahold of her giggles, a hand still brushing Kristen's shoulder. Kristen can follow the two gazes as though a line had been drawn. Overprotective of Jenny, she guesses. Yet that color…

Seryna hands out plates of fluffy omelets with something green peeking out- spinach? That is Kristen's least favorite food. To be polite, she eats a forkful. She considers the feeling that she'd had earlier in the morning, the feeling of jealously that these people had spent so much more time with Nicole than she had in the last year. Perhaps more meaningful time.

" I asked Nicole about your family. Your elixir use. The Family legacy… I don't really understand it."

"What do you know about it?" Seryna asks.

"Nicole mentioned that you used the elixir to hunt a vampire in a night club. How?"

"How in-depth do you want me to go?" Seryna asked me as she picked at her sausage.

"Tell me all of it. "

Darren smiles, shooting Seryna a look. There is a color sparkle underneath Seryna and Darren's emotions, but Kristen can't recognize it. It has the same hue as a drunk person that she had observed. Yet nothing about the behavior suggests that Seryna and Darren are under the influence of anything. I realize that Darren is glancing at me out of the corner of his eye as he eats his omelet. He's looking at my eyes, Kristen realizes with a start. Kristen's heart lurches in her chest and begins to hammer. How? She has never seen anyone act differently around her for this before. Maybe he's just making eye contact…

Kristen turns to look him in the eye, giving the interested in your statement attention that she does for her client's initial visit. Darren's dark brown eyes match Kristen's honey brown eyes. The two lock eyes and stare for a moment, the intensity startling. Kristen looks away first, closing her eyes and pressing in on the circuitry within. This cuts off the Devils Eyes perception.

Darren continues to eat, not looking at Kristen particularly closely. Kristen feels uncomfortable with the stare that he had given her, feeling as though he had been trying to read her and not the other way around. Or had he known that she was trying to read them?

"I'll try. Let me know if I'm going too fast. We grew up with this, so I forget sometimes that it's not inherent. I brewed an elixir-"

"Can you explain what you do?"

"Okay…" Seryna leaned back, her eyes rolling upwards as she focused. Kristen watched her quietly for a moment as she stated. "So we used a special venom that my cousin got for me. It's lethal- but I was able to use my family's' ability to use it for perception. This is called Asp elixir. I used it by filling an eye dropper and dropping it into my eyes. This gave me better perception than most people. Darren went with me to help me through the club."

Kristen glances at Darren and he smiles. "She can look odd when she uses this elixir. Her eyes are too wide. Sometimes it's an um…"

"Alien." Jenny supplied. "It looks very odd behavior."

"Yes, an odd behavior." Darren nodded. "That's why I go with her to look for anyone showing her interest and to try and block them from coming in too close to Seryna. But, Kristen… you were staring very intently at Seryna and I a few minutes ago. What was that about?"

"Curiosity." Kristen swallows. She shovels in a bite of breakfast. Darren shakes his head.

"No, it wasn't like that."

"Okay," Kristen sighed. Darren and Seryna exchange a look. Concerned? Suspicious? What did it matter? Kristen felt a prick of anxiety as she weighed how much to reveal. Darren's expression was darkening She plunged on without a plan.

"I can do something like that. Look for perceptions in people."

"You were weighing Seryna and me," Darren nodded. "I thought that you were doing a behavior leakage thing, but you were only looking at our faces."

"Leakage?" Jenny grimaces.

"Its signs that someone make unconsciously when they try to lie." Darren explains.

"How do you know about that?" Kristen wonders.

"My cousins Pete and Isabella- and our mother – handle diplomatic missions. Sort of like a mediation. They can be manipulated if they're not careful. But don't change the subject, Kristen." His voice sharpens.

"How can you do this? You are not an elixir user."

"It's a thurmutech surgery," Kristen confides. "- that a specific doctor implanted into me. It allows me to see emotions."

"In your eye?" Seryna blinks.

"Why?" Jenny frowned. "Nothing was wrong, why get surgery?"

"To detect threats. I was involved in a group in Ohio that was very involved in detecting monsters before they did terrible murder sprees." Kristen glances between the faces nervously. Seryna looked pensive. Darren was calm, Kristen didn't think that he was upset. Jenny was frowning and dry washing her hands.

"Say something." Kristen implores, her anxiety rising.

"Okay," Seryna stated slowly. "- then you may understand this elixir better than anyone, Kristen. Its' how I spotted a peculiar behavior that no one else had. Do you do that, too?"

"I try to." Kristen states quietly. She glances to Darren and Jenny, biting her lip. She recognizes the pain and stops, rubbing her lip with her fingers.

"You're not supposed to tell us, huh?" Seryna smiled. "Kristen, relax."

"That's kind of hard." Kristen objects. "This is really personal and scary. I've never…"

"Okay, breathe." Darren snaps. Kristen takes a sharp breath.

"We're not afraid, Kristen. We … well, honestly. We thought that you would be scared about the elixir. Your sister wasn't excited."

"She wasn't?" Kristen takes a breath and holds it for a second, battling to combat her emotions. "You're not upset with me."

"No." Darren glances to his sisters.

"Nope." Jenny shrugged. "You were honest with us, Kristen. I can see that it scared you, but you don't have to be. So, how did your sister react?"

I don't say anything, looking at my hands.

"Oh no. "Seryna sighed. "Why?"

"She's so… Nicole." Kristen made a face. "She judges everything so fast. It all made so much sense in Ohio. And I was making a huge difference. How can I explain that it wasn't something bad?"

"Just the way you did with us."

"Can we not do this? I know I need to tell her. But I'm not ready to right now."

"Okay," Darren nodded. "So… our elixir is more like a family practice. I guess you could say religion, although we don't worship anything. Our mother was taught this from her parents. It came over from the Middle East. We've been raised with it all of our lives, a feeling that we need to face the things that harm us fin the night. There was a tale about a man who brewed the first potion and it worked wonderfully. He led his armies against the Darkness, night after night. Then after some successes, he died. The story goes that the trail of death continued until one man decided to temper the potion with poison. Knowing that too much potion would kill him, he took just enough to survive against the Dark. That's essentially what we are doing. We know how to ingest elixir for ways to detect supernatural things."

"That sounds so impossible." Kristen shakes her head. "You ingest poisons and don't die."

"I can see how its' not the garden variety hunter. Yet you've been hunting for how long?"

"Two years now."

"Two years. You've spent a year in Ohio, so you didn't stay with Nicole for very long."

"No..." Kristen glances over to Darren. "Nicole and I can get on each other's' nerves."

"You stayed together for your first three hunts." Jenny leaned back in the couch. "Nicole told us about your first hunt the first night that we met her."

"Did she?" A prick of surprise stabs at Kristen. "It wasn't very special."

"Special?" Seryna smiles. "You took out a ghoul that was preying on the neighborhood. That's special to the families that live here."

"We never cut off the head. We never found the head."

"The vampire." Jenny shivers. " They're terrible."

"I wanted to make sure that it was gone. The way that we did it, it just moved to another place. Some place where it can feed with abandon."

"We didn't see it that way." Seryna said softly. "You met something that was terribly strong. It threatened you… "

She glances to Darren. "What was that threat?"

"Her mother."

"It said that it would turn our mother over to his master." Kristen whispered.

"It was terrifying. Nicole told us she couldn't sleep for weeks after that. The look in his eyes…"

"It looked so human." Kristen whispers, recalling the dark pools of the ghoul's eyes. "Like the guy whose had so many bad things happen to it. You know if you can get it to the rehab place, it can get better. But this one – he resisted so hard. He fought like a man possessed even as he howled that he'd ruin us if we went near his master. But in the end, he looked like a person."

"He wasn't." Darren insisted. "He once was a man who could be saved. But once it… the Beast warps his soul, it's beyond saving. It becomes the thing that preserves his master's existence." His dark brown eyes look into Kristen's. "That mission is just as evil as the vampire's perversions."

"Did you feel bad?" Jenny blinked. Her eyes widened as though she were surprised. Kristen fights the urge to look at her and really see her emotions. Kristen looks down and closes her eyes, resisting the temptation to pull on her Devils Eyes and truly see into these people. If they were to trust her, she should be able to trust them. Kristen didn't want to answer. She remembered the coppery smell of blood. The deep, tortured breathing. The terrible tightness in her chest when her friends, her sister and herself were trapped in the alley with the ghoul. The look in its eyes when she had pressed the barrel of her pistol to his chest and fired. The blessed relief that came after.

"Yes," Kristen nodded. "- it felt bad."

"You were the one who killed it." Darren blinked. "Nicole said that the cell shot it-"

"Four times." Kristen whispers. "Mike shot it twice. Nicole had been trying to immobilize it with her baton, but it… it hit her. Later we found out that her hand had been broken in two places. She fell to her knees on the ground."

Nicole's tortured breathing as she lifted her head and stared into the ghoul's eyes. The ghoul's inhuman snapping motion with his mouth when it lunged at her face. The smell of gun powder as Kristen squeezed the trigger. The movies never really prepare you for what a man's chest looks like when it dies. The smell of foulness mingled with the stench of sickness as Mike vomited. It was awful.

"It's over." Jenny squeezes my arm. Kristen smiles weakly, trying to dismiss her emotion. "I'm fine." She lies. "You're right, its' over."

The smell of eggs waffles by, nauseating as it mingles with her memories. Kristen looks away from my neglected plate.

"I hadn't meant to…" Kristen lose track of the sentence. She had come for information about these people. She still wasn't sure what this was. But She knew that something was different, now. Kristen could feel a certain relief. No, not relief. That word was associated with the feeling after the first ghoul was dead. This felt like a refreshing clearing of the air, a lifting of her burden. Kristen smiled at the pompous thought, surely something that trickled in from the horror novel that she had been reading the night before.

"Do you feel better?" Jenny asks.

Seryna lifts the plates and carries them away, the half-eaten food gladly removed from sight.

"Yes." Kristen nods. "Yes."

"Good." She squeezes Kristen's hand again and relaxes. "You say you want to know more about the elixir. You came at a good time."

"I did?"

"Yes. Seryna is going to teach me something."

"Oh." Kristen glances between Jenny and Darren. "Is it okay that I see?"

"Of course." Darren rises. "I have to head home. Neith is in her first dance recital tomorrow. There's a hundred things to get done before, so I should try and get some sleep."

"It's' at six, right?"

"I was curious…" Kristen stood as Darren moves to the door, walking with him. "Neith. I've never heard that name before."

"It my wife's idea." Darren smiled. "In mythology, she was the goddess of war and hunting. Jewel really liked the thought of that."

"You want your daughter to be a hunter."

"You're surprised." Darren's smile fades. "Yes. I want that for her. That's our family, Kristen. My mother, my father, my uncle and my aunts."

He says his goodbyes and leaves. Kristen imagines a four-year-old girl holding a heavy pistol. Imagining her in an alley one terrible night.

"It's odd for you." Jenny speaks from the couch. "But we're all hunters."

"Really… all of you are hunters?"

"Okay. Our cousins Leanna and Lexie are an accountant and a dentist." She makes a face. "Broke their momma's heart."

Kristen giggles as I join her on the couch. "So how many cousins do you have?"

"Mom has one sister and a brother, Edward and Katherine. Edward's kids are Isaac and Isabella. Katherine's kids are Gefri, Hebe and Arius. My dad has one brother, Richard. He has Robert, Peter and Barbara. "

"Very unusual names. "

"Katherine chose all of the names for qualities she wants in her children from the Greek mythology." Jenny explains. "Names have a lot of meaning. I think that only Seryna got a name that our family believes is really meaningful."

"Really, Jendayi Kalika?" Seryna smiled as she entered the room. " One who is thankful, one who is greatly loved."

"One who resembles a rose," Jenny smiled. "Seren is 'from the starlight'. Although I like 'Serena, having a peaceful disposition. Because she's so peaceful."

"See? Didn't live up to my name at all." Seryna sticks out her tongue. "But are you going to learn or babble about names all night? Get out my blessings chest."

"Blessings chest?"

"Seryna is melodramatic and clings to the old... old ways," Jenny says lightly as she moves to the cedar chest in the corner of the room. "Most people just call them real words. 'Blessings'. Honestly, sounds like you're shaming faith believers."

"It's something that our Grandma said to me when I was little," Seryna explained as Jenny brought out a medium sized mixing bowl, a pestle and three small plastic vials. "I guess that it stuck with me. Now, let's go over the basics while Jendayi prepares the elixir."

Seryna reaches into the cedar chest and pulls out a small leather fanny pack. Kristen leans in over her shoulder and points to the larger black back pack.

"Is that your bug out bag? Nicole mentioned that you'd get me to make one."

"You ought to," Seryna said simply as she unzips the fanny pack. "This is a mini bug out that I take on hunts. This –" She pulls out a small glass vial. "- is the eye of Ra."

"What does it do?"

"The sun-god Ra sees all that transpires beneath his fiery gaze. By anointing ourselves with sacred oils, the Ascending Ones gain a measure of this divine perception." Seryna explains. "It allows us to sense things better. You know about vampires."

Kristen nods, trying and failing to repress a shiver.

"My mother used this when her group went after vampires." Seryna explains. As she talks, Jenny and she don blue nitrile gloves and white dust masks. Seryna offers Kristen one and frowns until she accepts and dons it.

"It puts you on slightly more even footing. You're still hunting something terrible, but now you can hear when it's sneaking up behind you or see where it goes when it races away from you. Jenny, what is it that we're making tonight?"

"Red resin." Jenny responds promptly. While the two women have have been talking, Jenny has been systematically adding pinches of some powder to a thick, gooey resin. She pauses to stir it with the spoon, blending in the powder. She tilts the bowl and surveys the contents with a frown.

"Not quite enough." Seryna takes the bowl from Jenny, adding a generous pinch of powder. She stirs continuously as she speaks.

"This is something that Darren and I have used before with great success. When he and I go into some place crowded – like a club – it can be impossible to pick out the predators from the run of the mill jerks. Jenny, how will you use this?" Seryna's voice is crisp and professional now. A teacher's voice.

"I will smoke it in a cigarette." Jenny states. "One that we will roll ourselves. With the smoking laws, I'll have to do it farther out from a club. It will still work, though, right?"

"We'd have to hurry." Seryna states quietly. "Look." Seryna hands the mixture to Jenny to survey and scoop into a plastic canister. Jenny makes a second batch under Seryna's watchful eye.

"Tell me again how you don't die."

"It's a discipline." Seryna states, calm and professional. "If you were to ingest this, you would die. Yet my family has learned this over generations. It's a part of who we are."

"Okay." Kristen watches as the two secure the elixir before they allow Kristen to remove her mask.

"I get that it's hard to understand. I do. I'm trying to think of how to explain it." Seryna said. "Darren says we don't worship anything. Its' based partly on faith. We think deeply on this- meditate. A teacher – our parents- taught us this as children. When I was thirteen, my mother gave me something to drink. It scalded my throat." She grimaced. "My mother taught that I had not truly wanted to change. She waited several months until we had a long talk and I was convinced that I was ready."

Seryna looked into Kristen's eyes.

"She said 'You are going to meet a vampire tonight. This will help you see its' emotions. You can help us with the meeting, if you are ready.' When I realized how much I wanted to be a part of my family's mission, how much I wanted to be strong, I could take the drops. I felt something shift." She touched her stomach. "Something inside changed me."

"You didn't really meet a vampire when you were thirteen."

"Yes, I did. He was a contact of my mothers for a peace that she was brokering."

"You have eight others who hunt with you?"

"Pete, Isabella, Isaac, Robert and Uncle Richard are a part of the Crescent." Jenny explains. "This bothers my mother, so we don't hunt with them. I know that Darren goes hunting with them, sometimes."

"Why does it bother your mother?"

"Your sister was a police officer and she didn't like this, either." Seryna states slowly. "The Crescent does a great many services for our organization. They help pay the rent on our house – and on my grandmother's house, for one. They are great chemists."

"Your mother dislikes chemists." Kristen states skeptically. "When she taught you all of this."

"They are what can be considered a street gang." Seryna said, resigned. "They run an efficient organization – supplying elixir to a great number of Ascending Ones hunters across the state. Yet they also have an illegal arms trade."

"Fantastic." Kristen frowns. "Darren hangs out with them?"

"He doesn't take the illegal guns." Jenny points out. "They are our family and we do see them at family gatherings. They just conduct these things away from us."

"Alright. Family is family."

"There's something that I want to ask you." Seryna stated. "I have a contact who can get me a supply of very rare feathers. I can use one feather in a very special elixir to heal someone. If we are going after ghouls and vampires, I think that I should get these feathers."

"I didn't hear the question." I reminded.

"The contact is a little old fashioned. She wants to meet out of town, farther than I would normally go by myself. It's in a small, isolated area. I was wondering if you – and Nicole- could come with us."

"Of course. Can I ask why not Matt and Nancy?"

"I don't know them."

"Seryna, you're never going to get to know them if you exclude them." Kristen reminds. She leans in close to Seryna's face and waits for her to meet her gaze.

"I trust them. Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then you should trust them. Spending time together will help us get to know each other. I know that they'll want to help you, Seryna."

"They don't know me, either."

"They know that you're important to my sister and that I want us to be friends."

Seryna smiles. "I would like that. I know that it was difficult for you, tonight."

"Yes." Kristen said shortly.

"All right. All of you. Can you be here at 9? It will be a nearly two-hour drive."

"You weren't kidding about isolated. All right, deal. We'll be here at 9."

The three women bid goodbye and Kristen heads out, returning to the apartment that she shared with her sister.


	3. Chapter 3

"That's her." Seryna said, indicating a woman waiting at a table in the back, facing the door. The brunette is sipping from a cup of coffee and munching on a chocolate cruller.

"Nicole, does she remind you of anyone?" Kristen asked, studying the woman from the door. "Yeah." Nicole nodded. "I can't quite place my finger on it."

The woman occasionally glances down at her cell phone, tapping it as though she's using the high-speed internet to follow something. Facebook, most likely. She occasionally glances down at her pack of cigarettes, clearly wishing that she could light one up in the shop. She looks up at Seryna, Nicole and Kristen when they walk up to her table, studies them for a moment, and asks, "Are you them?"

Jenny walks out of the door, sitting in the car and eating her chocolate cake doughnut. She's keeping an eye on the meeting without seeming too interested.

"Yeah, we're looking for some birds." Kristen responded. "Blue ones."

"Alright." The woman nods, checking her phone one more time, keying a quick response. "Have a seat."

Christie doesn't allow anyone to slide in next to her, so Seryna and Kristen take the booth across from Christie. Nicole takes a seat in the booth across the aisle from Christie, leaning back and appearing more interested in the carton of milk that she'd bought.

""You people seem like the real deal, so it's worth my time to at least meet with you. I've heard enough to have a good idea of what you're looking for and, if my guess is right, I can help you, but it's going to cost. My prices are fair."

"We told you what we're looking for, the blue feathers. We got a call last night about the quantity available. I'm going to need all of them. I'm sure that you can come down a little on the price for that many."

"All of them?" Christie blotted her mouth with a napkin. "I don't gouge for more than what something is worth, but I get every penny of its value. If you can live with that, then we can deal."

She slides a napkin forward. Seryna checks the amount and frowns, shaking her head.

"That's your price for the lot? That certainly doesn't seem fair to me. Kristen, what do you think?"

"No, no it does not." Kristen checked the napkin. The price was a whole month's grocery budget. Certainly, seemed too high for some feathers.

"Okay then. I can understand your feelings. You know where the door is and I hope that you can find what you're looking for somewhere else."

The contact took a greedy bite of doughnut, apparently washing her hand of the deal.

"Seryna." Nicole waved Seryna over and Nicole had a quick, hushed word.

"Fine." Seryna nodded. "We'll pay that- when you let me test the feathers right then and there."

"Test?" Christie shook her head. "I can't sell what you use."

"Everyone who wants these feathers wants them for exactly what I'm doing. Now, you can give me a few minutes to work and have confidence in your product. You could even cite me as someone to refer to testify in the quality of your supplier."

That got Christie's attention. She drummed her slate lacquered nails against the Formica table for a moment.

"I have to wait around while you do your thing."

"IF you don't have time to spend making money, then perhaps you're in the wrong line of business."

"Yes. Deal. I told you the meet site last night. Did you have time to look it up? Any questions?"

"No, I know where to find it. We'll see you there."

"Excellent." Christie stood. "The crullers are amaze – balls." She affirmed, walking out of the store.

"Why a separate meet? She can't just give you the purchase now?" Kristen asked as the women piled into Nicole's sedan, driving to the Wards' home.

"It's a tested and true way of doing things. You make sure the buyer seems legit in person, then arrange a separate meet with the product. This way she can't be held up for the product. She has several hours until the meet, so she can make sure we didn't have her followed to be rolled. It's not a nice world, but I've bought my last order of Bennu feathers from her. She said its' the same supplier so I can afford the time delay."

"These feathers," Nicole tilted her head. "- you told me that you usually got these from your uncles' supplier."

"I usually do. Yet you don't want his help in buying a house together. I'm testing out the water."

"I'm not comfortable with his money paying our way, no." Nicole admitted. "I appreciate it. I know it's a big change for you."

"It's always there." Seryna shrugged as she led them into the house. "If you change your mind."

"I won't." Nicole said dryly.

"Okay, so let's pack up so we're not late to the meet." Seryna checked her watch as Jenny opened the chest, pulling out a fanny pack and a small messenger bag.

"We have hours." Nicole protested. "Nancy and the guys won't meet us here in two hours."

"I like to be prepared." Seryna replied. "You ought to be sure to throw your bug out bag in the trunk. And secure your hunting gear."

Kristen studied Seryna.

"You think this place is dangerous?"

"I don't expect to run into vampires," Seryna stated as she opened a pack of cigarettes, fishing two out to be replaced with the two that she and Jenny had made the night before. "- but I plan for it just in case. I checked the map. This place is isolated. No police station for miles. Hospital, either."

"I'll check in with Chrissy." Kristen said to Nicole. "Can you drop me?"

Kristen knocked on the door that read Dr. Christina Hollandale, MD. The doctor opened the door and broke into a warm smile, hugging the brunette. The doctor stood at 5'5'', with blonde hair with highlights. She wore a white coat over a brightly printed pair of leggings and a loosely fitted tunic top. "I know that you just got in." Chrissy replied, closing the door behind them/ "- I had a cancellation, so we have a few moments."

"That's actually all I have too," Kristen stated with regret. "- we have a lot to catch up on. But I'm in a time crunch. My friend is gearing up and I haven't decked out a real med kit for seven people."

Christina moved to a cabinet and unlocked it, taking out a red bag. "You can have this one. I'm trying my hand at bug out bags and this was the first that I made. It's big on trauma care- open wounds is on top. There's a radio- frequency is on the radio." She kissed Kristen's cheek. "We check the radio every meal time."

"Why?" Kristen felt uneasy. "Have things gotten so bad while I've been away?"

"Not enough time to get into it. But we're starting to feel a change in Santee. We have given these out to everyone in our cell. I feel like we aren't going to get a warning when something goes down. It will be sudden, like the overload back in Easter. Or unexpected, like the gunman last month."

"You're into bug out bags? Nicole's friends are into me to start prepping."

"It's not for crazy people. We've been prepping, the Union. It takes a little time and investment to do it right, but you'll be glad that you did."

"I feel left behind, here."

"I'm sorry, but my next appointment is here. Call and let us know when you get back, Kristen." The doctor admonished as the brunette walked into the waiting room. Her old medical contact was no longer working out of an emergency room. She was now a private practitioner, a partner in her own medical office. A lot had changed in the last year and Kristen was starting to feel like she was running to catch up. She took an Uber over to Nancy and Matt's apartment, glad to find that they were awake and in discussion about the meet up.

"Seems excessive to bring seven people to an exchange. Is this contact dangerous?"

"Not that I know of. Seryna's just being cautious. She asked for me – not you guys. I said that I wanted you." Kristen said firmly. "And I do want you to really try at this. Matt, are you listening?"

"I'm just deciding whether or not to get my gun out of the safe."

"Don't. We were just with the police last night. We'll have to do this legally."

"California is shit for gun laws." Matt sighed. He removed the large knife that they had taken off of their attacker the knight before and slipped it into a belt holster, adding it to his belt. He added his jacket and the machete contained within to his backpack, swinging it on his back. "We grab some snacks and I'm gold."

"Nancy, I brought you something." Kristen handed her the red bag from Chrissy. "It's from my old contact that I told you about. I haven't had a chance to look in it. She says it's good for trauma, that stuff is on top. I told her we had seven people, but I didn't check."

Nancy didn't say thank you as opened it and systematically started to lay it out on the small table that the hotel provided. This was gear that could save lives in proper hands and Nancy's hands had often been the only trained medical personnel that had been on hand. She was quick to point out that she was an RN, not a doctor. Yet she had years of experience with trauma and the nasty things the beasts could do to people. Kristen trusted her to do what was right. Nancy brought out her own messenger bag and started adding things from it to the more professional grade bag that Kristen had brought.

"What weapons are you bringing?" She asked Nancy. "The knife and the TAZER on me. I'm hiding my hand axe in the trunk. I have three flashlights in there, too."

"The trunk?"

"We bought a car." Matt smiled "Nice little blend in. Toyota Avalon. Good size sedan. Best looking car we've ever had."

"You bought a car." Kristen stated, incredulous. "You're serious."

"We bought a car." Nancy smiled. "I fell in love with this one. We had it set up last night, but didn't want to say anything until it went through."

"You bought a car before me." Kristen laughed. "You guys like this place. You like this group."

"This place is lousy with monsters. Nothing to like about that. But you're here and Kris, I think you're supposed to be." Matt closed the space between them. "I'm sorry about last night. My little – thing, you know. I wasn't supportive of you. Nancy pointed out that I was an ass."

"You're welcome." Nancy said cheerily from where she was packing up the medical bag.

"I came off like a real ass to your sister's friends. That's not who I am. You know that I'm serious, right?"

Kristen studied Matt for a beat.  
"Why didn't you want me to tell them last night?"

"I was all into the hunt. I was thinking that it would screw us up. Not to mention, I wasn't looking very good."

"I told them." Kristen stated boldly, a hurriedly blurted confession.

"You what?" Matt exclaimed. "After I asked you not to! "

He walked off at seeing Kristen's face cloud with anger.

"You asked me what, Matt? Not to tell them?" She followed him around the room as he paced. "I make the decisions about my body. I told the Wards. They were fine with it." She emphasized fine a little to spite Matt's reaction. He was overreacting.

"The Wards?" Nancy clarified.

"Yeah."

"How much did you tell them?" Nancy pursued.

"About the Devils Eyes."

"Not the Weapon."

"No." Kristen felt her stomach start to drop.

"Or the harvesting."

"No. But like I said, they were fine."

"You didn't explain about what we had done?"

"No. Why? Would that have upset you?"

"You said it best, Kristen. You decide what's best for your body. But you don't decide for us. Not about this."

"This is too important." Matt crashed in on the end of Nancy's statement. "We don't want these people worrying that we're not… not..."

He stuttered, unable to find a word to describe his fears.

"I didn't realize you were so worried." Kristen took a seat on the bed. "I'm sorry, Matt."

"Worried? That's you, not me." The man insisted, grabbing his bag. "I'm loading the truck. Nance, your bag ready?"

"The backpack." Nancy directed him and Matt left, both bags in hand.

"He's upset." Kristen agonized. "I didn't even do the whole thing right."

"I don't think you need to worry about doing anything right." Nancy zipped the bag and sat next to Kristen, setting it at her feet.

"You said that they were fine?"

"Yes. They took it well. They actually explained a little about what they do."

"The poison? That makes no sense."

"You should talk to them, yourself. I made a dog's dinner about my situation, I'm not about to start on theirs."

"Kristen, you need to put on your big girl panties." Nancy said firmly. "You worked this all up in your head. I don't think that its' as bad as you think. Honestly, I will tell your sister. I'll walk out to that car and do it right now, if you want to. But Matt's nervous that we won't make our quota. You're nervous about disappointing your sister."

"That's it. You boil it down like I'm some waif, some Pollyanna?" Kristen snapped. "That's not who I am."

"Kristen, there is nothing wrong with fear. With anxiety. It means that you're human." Nancy put an arm around Kristen.

"Matt told me what you two had been whispering about. You're right- this is family. It might not be smooth right away, but it's not going to break you." She squeezes Kristen's shoulder.

"Don't pay attention to Matt. He's mad. At himself, I think."

"About what?"

"Not finding that ghoul's master. He was twitching last night in his sleep. I think that he's anxious about the new place, the quota. Not knowing your sister's cell. And, being a man, he can't process it, so he goes on a mad bluster."

Kristen snorted an unexpected laugh.

"If you can laugh, nothings really that bad." Nancy stood. "Come on. We have a two-hour drive and I need candy."

"How is your ass not as big as Texas?"

"Special surgery." Nancy winked, impishly. "You don't want a Mountain Dew?"

"Ugh. Code Red!" Kristen made a retching sound as she followed Nancy out. "You know that's not even a thing, anymore. I can' imagine you guzzling cans of that as a kid."

"We weren't allowed soda at Basic, so I went overboard when we got out. I gained weight. I didn't do very well at moderation, but I can't stand it now."

"Well, load up on what you want. You're looking a little light. You get your stuff yet?"

The three went to the corner store and bought snacks for the seven, choosing on the generic candy for the three that they didn't know very well. Remembering how Nicole was speaking about how dedicated the Wards were for disaster preparedness and prepping, Kristen bought five gallons of water and an emergency car kit. The three headed to Nicole & Kristen's apartment so that Kristen could gather her gear for the car trip.

Nicole was in her bedroom laying out items from her chest where she concealed her hunting gear onto her comforter. Kristen surveyed the items while Nancy and Matt settled into the Livingroom couch to watch television. "Nancy is bringing her TAZER and knife." Kristen led with. "I was thinking of strapping on the whole kit and caboodle, although it may look a little awkward."

"I was thinking that, too. I was thinking we should get tactical belts, like security guards."

"Police." Kristen corrected. "We are not rent – a – cops."

"I'll give you that." Nicole picked up her telescopic baton. "Technically these are illegal."

"Better make sure no cop sees it, then. Hide it under the seat. Bring the other stuff," Kristen gestured to the bed. "- on you."

"I really like the baton."

"You have one that isn't illegal?"

"Buddy of mine from the force got it." Nicole pulled out a baton. "Looks like a piece of shit compared to mine."

"So leave the illegal one and take this one. We're going to the ass end of nowhere, I do not want to run into Barney Fife."

Nicole was uncertain, picking up her illegal weapon from the bed. Kristen left her there and went into her own room. When she had left Ohio two days before, she had packed her weapons into a special suitcase. Kristen had given some modified weapons away to friends before leaving her old city as she had wanted to avoid questions from Harbor Police. Thankfully, her sister's contacts in the police force had let her register before she'd technically arrived in the city. She removed her Beretta Px4 Storm from its locked case in a special holster that let it ride against the skin of her right hip in the waistband of her pants. From her suitcase, she picked out two additional magazines and spent some time loading them with ammunition. These were added to her backpack.

She packed her KUBAR, a straight edge single blade knife about six inches long, under her shirt at her back. As she was wearing two weapons that were harder to conceal, she pulled a loose fitting black Graphic Tee featuring a Marvel superhero over her tank top. The lighter, flash light and her camcorder and spare cell phone battery were placed in her backpack. As it was practically empty, it was easy to carry. She changed into tactical pants and joined her sister once again.

Nicole had changed into stretchy black leggings and a long tunic top in baby blue. Kristen couldn't see her sister's firearm but knew that it was concealed on her sister's body just as her own was. The telescopic baton remained on the bed. Her sister was wearing calf length tactical boots that easily concealed the baton. Kristen immediately regretted that all she was wearing were her running shoes. "Steel toe?"

"You bet." Nicole surveyed the bed and selected her Trench knife. She wore it openly on a belt holster. "Okay, we're early to meet the Wards. You have anything else to do?"

"Better to be early. We can talk about what the plan is if there is trouble."

As there were three more Hunters awaiting, the hunters took Nicole's Honda sedan and Matt and Nancy's Toyota Avalon. Arriving, they found the Ward siblings were already wearing their weapons. They were sorting through the large wooden chest in the living room, surveying eye drops, vials and miscellaneous goods that meant nothing to the casual observer.

"What are you bringing?" Kristen asked, moving beside Seryna as she placed a vial of eye drops in her fanny pack. "Some things I always bring. Something to help with perception. Something to help detect thermal signatures. This," She selects a jar, raising it up to show those gathered. "-is what we're going for. A Bennu bird feather, when properly prepared, can heal someone of wounds. It's essential when hunting dangerous beasts. As ghouls and vampires can be so much quicker and stronger than we are, I need the feathers that Christie is going to sell to me."

"Do you have any more?"

"This one and Darren's." Seryna finished packing and donned the pack, picking up two wooden batons from the coffee table. They reminded Seryna of combat batons, with handles gripped by hands and long blunt club like batons.

"What's that?"

"Batons." Seryna explained. "My father made them for me." She smoothly moved into a combat pose, the batons shielding her core. "They help to block attacks. I also can choose to only wound, not kill."

"Do you have any killing weapons?" Matt wondered.

"I have a .40 pistol." Seryna replied. "I prefer these."

"I like my baton as well." Nicole nodded, indicating her left ankle. "It's what I use first. Subdue when we can."

"Yes, I agree." Seryna nodded, continuing with interest. "There are times that we need to destroy. Let if we are only attacking pawns, I prefer to kill only the true evil."

"Vampires?" Matt guessed.

"Yes. Vampires." Seryna affirmed. "I am modestly able to defend myself. My brother is a competition shooter. He brings excellent firearms for the vampires' pawns. We have difficulty with vampires themselves, of course."

"Zip stake." Matt shrugged off his duffel bag, unzipping it. "Here. Be careful." He emphasized as Darren reached out to take it. "It's something a buddy showed me how to rig up. To get through those terrible chest cavities, this shotgun shell is rigged with this sharpened wooden stake. You have to be really careful, however. You could lose a finger if it misfires."

Darren offers to hand it back. "You're a competitive shooter?" Matt asks, not accepting the weapon.

"Yes." Darren replied. "Here." Matt offered him another bolt. "If you're okay with the risk."

"Thank you." Darren carefully accepts the second bolt. Matt pulls out a plastic ammunition case divided for the bolts and carefully loaded them for Darren. "I have two as well. I can't fire them, legally, as I'm not registered. If we go after a vampire, I'll likely risk the charges."

"You didn't bring your gun?"

"No, just the knife and my machete."

"Here." Darren knelt down beside a long gun case. "I'm bringing these three. If you see one that you've experienced with, feel free to borrow it if the need arises."

Matt and Darren survey the firearms for a few moments, discussing Matt's past experience. He had never operated any of these weapons and listened to Darren's advice in comparison with the .44 and shotgun that he had used in the past.

"I'm not bringing my gun on a pickup," Jenny replied. "It might attract attention. Just dressing like your average girl with my mace canister, knife and Grandma's gift."

"Grandma's gift?"

"Something my Grandma had altered to conceal easily. Just in case something tries to hurt me. Doesn't work on vampires, but I'll try and avoid them."

"We'll be back well before dark." Seryna nodded. "We'll spend two hours driving there. Then about ten while I test the feather and two hours back. We'll be back well before 2 P.M."

The cell divided up into two cars. Jenny drove the first car with Darren and Matt. Darren's long gun case was concealed behind the seat, a crowbar by Darren's feet. Nancy drove the Toyota with Kristen, Nicole and Seryna. "Perfect time for you two to talk." Darren said meaningfully to Nicole as the group loaded up.

"Yeah," Kristen said slowly. "- we should talk."

As Nancy drove, the two sisters in the back seat did indeed begin to talk. To Kristen's surprise, it was Nicole who confided.

"I eavesdropped on the three of you last night." She said simply, allowing Kristen time to consider and reply.

"Why would you do that?"

"I… I get this feeling. You've been different since you've come back. I feel like – I don't know."

Kristen watched Nicole for a moment before glancing out of the window.

"You're not wrong. I'm been struggling with the idea of telling you something."

"Best just to get this out."

"You tell me what to do about everything, don't you?"

Nicole shifted in her seat, uncomfortable. "I didn't realize that I do that."

"It's been two days since we've moved in together, Nic. I want to be closer. I've missed you. But you can't treat me like a junior partner in the investigation firm and on the job."

"Okay. I wasn't honest. Darren told me that I wasn't acting right. But… he wasn't wrong. I wanted to tell you what to do because I wanted to teach you."

"And I want you to teach me. But maybe sometimes, you have to be willing to listen for me to teach you. We've been hunting nearly every day of the last year of Ohio."

"What? How could you afford not to work?"

Kristen was quiet for a moment. "I'm going to say something that may be hard to understand. Please, be quiet until I get it all out. I promise, I can answer everything."

"Kristen, what's wrong? What is it?"

"Nancy called me out to get that monster I told you about, right? The Face Stealer. She was part of a cell with Matt and Phex. We tracked down the beast and then we brought it to a warehouse. We delivered it to group of scientists."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because the Company is investigating the monsters. Researching them. Sometimes, they find something odd. Sometimes, though, they find something useful. Something that can help you hunt. Wait- "Kristen cut off Nicole. "Wait. Let me get this out. Fast, right? Okay."

Kristen took a deep breath. When she spoke, she exhaled out her explanation rapidly.

"We were working because the three of us work as a retrieval team for the Company. In addition to pay, we undergo surgery. I've had two surgeries since I've been gone."

"You've had two surgeries for what? You were injured?"

"I forgot a part, sorry." Kristen shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm nervous."

"Kristen, what's going on?"

"I've had Thaumatechnology surgery. It implants body parts of monsters into hunters. I am able to see things that can help me detect monsters. Then I asked for something that can help me fight them better. You know that these things are so much stronger than us. Like the thing in the alley."

"You asked for…" Nicole trailed off, staring at Kristen uncomprehendingly. "I... I don't understand. Why would you do this?"

"Why do you hunt?"

"That's – that's nothing like- "

"No, quick. Why do you hunt?"

"To protect people." Nicole replied rapidly. "More than I could as a police officer."

"I asked for the surgery for the same reason, Nicole. I want to protect people, too."

Nicole was quiet for several minutes. Nancy continued to drive and the miles passed them by, a blur to Nicole. She watched the passing asphalt sightlessly. Finally, she spoke.

"Nancy, you called her out there for the Face Stealer?"

"Yes." Nancy replied concisely.

"You hunted nearly every day. You were paid by a company."

"Yes." Nancy replied just as she had earlier.

Nicole turned to look at Kristen. "You've had parts of monsters placed inside of you."

"Yes, but I'm not a monster."

"Nancy and Matt?"

"Not my place to say."

Nicole glanced up to the front seat. "Nancy, have you had this surgery?"

"Yes."

"More than once?"

"Yes. Kristen, Matt, Phex and your sister and I are part of a very active cell. We put down a lot of bad things. Some of them we brought in."

"What sort of things?"

"Three ghouls. Two vampires. One… changing thing. It looked like a forest, had mushrooms in its' eyes. Something with the mouth of the wolf that could change into something big and horrible. Then we were back to the regular nasties."

"You've hunted two vampires?"

"More than two. We hunted them and brought them to the company."

"Did the company kill them?"

"We assume that they do, eventually. At our level, we know some. There's some people, like our handler, who knows a lot more. Sometimes they get intelligence on what we go after. A lot of times, we find things by going through one beast who gives up the next beast."

"Methods." Nicole remembered. "You have methods."

"I didn't want the Wards mixed in it. Or you." Kristen said quickly. "I want us to be honest with each other. Not do anything that the others aren't comfortable with."

"I'm not sure…" Nicole rubbed her forehead.

"Seryna did you know about this?"

"Kristen told us last night that she had surgery that let her see emotions. They let you see things?" Seryna clarified. "Bad things?"

"Yes. I mostly like seeing things supernaturally controlled. That suggests that its' a ghoul." Kristen swallowed. "I did it with that thing yesterday. I knew that it was a ghoul, but I was afraid to confirm it."

"You shouldn't be afraid." Nicole squeezed her hand. "You're my sister. I love you."

"Thank you. I- "Kristen swallowed, surprised to feel her eyes tearing up. "I didn't know how scared I was of losing you until we got into this car. It feels so good to know that you're okay with this."

There was a long silence.

"You're okay with this." Kristen began. Nicole stared out of the window, still holding Kristen's hand. Kristen squeezed it and held on, looking at Seryna. Seryna gave her an encouraging smile, but her eyes were clouded with an emotion that Kristen couldn't read. Anxiety. Apprehension.

"Nancy, what can you do?"

"Are you sure that you're okay with this?" Nancy questioned.

"What, you don't want to tell me?"

"I'm a person, not a bottle opener. I'm not defined by this. It helps, but it doesn't make me. It… sometimes, its' frightening, Nicole. Sometimes I stay awake at night wondering if they put a bag over my head and haul me off when I turn forty. Rip the things out, put them in some younger girl."

Seryna and Nicole's gazes swung towards Nancy.

"It's company property." Nancy stated with a twisted, hurt tone that came from deep inside of her. "I didn't realize when I signed the contract. I was eighteen. I didn't score high enough to be a pilot or a doctor in the military. I didn't want to spend my life working two jobs to become a low paid wage owner changing bed pans. So, I made a choice. I think it works. I help people. But sometimes, Nicole, I'm scared. Sometimes, I dream that they rip it out of someone, raw and bloody, and they put it on me with their blood dripping from it."

There is a long silence.

"Sometimes…" Kristen whispers. "Sometimes I dream that they rip out my eyes."

Nicole squeezes her hand. "Never." She whispers. "They won't touch you."

No one says that they already have.

After a beat, Seryna says. "Sometimes, I dream of death, Of fire. Of magma that boils the earth. I spoke to Max, the man who teaches many of us the greater elixir. He says he's dreamed these things. He says that he's also seen beautiful things. A life blooming and full of life. He says its' called ever after. He says that sometimes, when the monsters are real and terrifying, sometimes when we bury a friend, he forces himself to remember beauty. Love. Hope. This, girls, this is why we fight. For Neith. For Jewel. For my mother, whose had two knee surgeries and I know she can't outrun the slowest vampire. So… yeah. Something bad happened. Maybe something bad came from those parts, Nancy. Seryna. But they are yours now. You choose what they do."

"That's what I always tell myself." Kristen said quietly. "When I start to wonder."

"You never told me that." Nancy responded, surprised. "You always seem so… so sure of yourself."

"I hope I seem sure of myself. Somewhere along the way, I got it in my head that stupid saying – fake it 'til you make it. I hate it, it is so stupid. But I hear it in my head. I don't want you to think that I'm scared, Nancy. You always… I didn't realize that I was wrong. That I was wrong about you. That you had the nightmares, too."

"I think we all do." Nancy said quietly. "I told you that Matt was tossing in his sleep. He has done that since we got here, to this town. Then today when I woke up, he was staring at the mirror. Not shaving, or doing anything. Just staring. His face, his expression…"

She fades off. Kristen wants to ask her what she saw, but she's afraid to. What was going on in Mike's head? He had been angry and then remorseful for acting foolish. Kristen and Matt had always flared up, boiled over and then everything was fine. Yet he wasn't letting himself truly let into her, or Nancy or the others. She had been so caught up in herself, she hadn't considered him. Or Nancy. She had only worried about herself.

For several minutes, Kristen tries to form the words of this and to make an apology to Nancy. Yet what would it do? An apology would make her feel better, but it wasn't about what Nancy needed. Or what Matt needed. Kristen couldn't think of how to begin to talk to Matt about nightmares, or fear or living for hope. He had seemed so strong, so fast and so clearheaded. A hothead, sometimes, but he never let himself get out of control. Kristen began to pick apart his concerns this morning. Worrying that we're not… Not what? Hunters? Anyone with eyes could see that they were fine Hunters. The three of them had very different skills that complemented each other nicely. They hadn't found a niche with this new cell yet.

Perhaps that was the trouble. Matt was feeling out of place. Nancy could be feeling out of place as Matt was. She had grown up in Ohio, San Diego wasn't her home. They had both moved out her because Kristen wanted to come home. She needed to hash things out with her sister, to address the gulf that had begun to grow between them. In doing so, she had displaced her two closest friends in the world. Kristen felt a pang of regret that she had so readily accepted that they join her. She had never offered resistance, never offered that they stay in Ohio where they had formed their lives. Just token concerns over day to day, over the logistics of their lives. Kristen, center of the universe.

"I never realized that you were so upset." Nicole said to Kristen. "I'm sorry that I never asked what you were doing out there. That you… that I boss you around."

"You're my big sister. You're the boss." Kristen nudged Nicole's shoulder. She leaned her head against Nicole.

"Just not of what happens to me."

The cars drove on, mostly in silence with Nancy, Seryna, Nicole and Kristen. They all had things to think about. It was when Seryna said. "We're about ten miles from the meet." Jenny's car pulled off into a gas station and Seryna followed. The group gassed up the cars and stretched their legs, shaking off the road. Seryna did lunges in front of the car, ignoring looks of passersby.

"We're about thirty minutes early." She said. "I wanted a chance to look it over. Make sure that we weren't the ones' being rolled. I've worked with Christie before. She comes highly recommended. But suppliers change. This is the last stop before the meet."

The gas stop wasn't much more than a wide spot in the road. There was a bored looking attendant and only one other driver gassing up. It had the air of a desolate and ill used stop.

"Sort of creepy." Jenny noted. "No one around, really. You checked out the map. Is the meet any more populated?"

"No, worse really. Just a motel, a restaurant and a small shop. Not even a gas station." Seryna replied. "Get in, get out sort of deal. Google earth had it looking more green, with trees and some shrubs. There was some open, grassy area behind the motel."

Jenny shook her phone in irritation. "Speaking of Google Earth, my internet isn't connecting."

Every one reported the same problem. "Old world problems." Matt frowned at the development. "I only have one bar on my cell phone. That means we might get nothing out there."

"You think we'll run into trouble?"

"Maybe. Good thing all of us are here." Matt replied.

"Oh, we have a radio connection to Chrissy." Kristen remembered. "In case there is trouble."

"That's good." Nicole nodded. "Going to her was a good idea. So, what's the plan, Seryna?"

"Call me paranoid," Seryna began, looking at the cars. "But I'd rather not all of us roll up at once. She has met us, so Nancy drives us in. We see how it feels. Jenny, Darren and Matt can wait a ways back in case things aren't right, can drive in as the Calvalry."

"We're going in blind, aren't we?" Nancy frowned. "Not great, but its what we got. Matt, you have the binoculars?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, you guys walk up to the area, stop some ways off. See what you can spy with your binoculars while we drive up. We'll call you in five minutes. If we don't, assume something's up."

"Assuming you get a signal."

"Motel likely has a phone. We'll do our best to get ahold of you and let you know that everything's all right."

The group piled into two cars and set off for the meet. At a wide spot in the road that looked nice and flat, Jenny pulled the sedan off the road. Nancy drove on, heading towards three buildings. No one was in sight. As the motel sign came into view, Seryna's phone received a text message.

"We do have service." She said with some happiness before reading the text. "I'm in trouble. Cops in on it. Car take what you need. Help me n its free. Look out for man' ". Seryna frowned, calling Jenny.

"There's trouble." She relayed the message. "You guys stay there. We'll call you in five. 4 of us might be able to handle this fine."

Seryna hung up over Jenny's protests. "Cop and man. Two guys?" She looked between the three other women in the car. "I say we try and help her ourselves. You guys okay?"

"Likely some horny hicks. I say we're fine." Kristen adjusted her firearm. "Let's do this."


	4. Chapter 4

Nancy slowed down as the motel came into view. The motel was across the street from the rest stop. Neither is bustling with activity as Kristen would hope. There is only one car in sight, a beaten up beige sedan parked at the hotel. Nancy turns towards it without remarking on it. Nicole cranes her head and scans the other side of the street. There was no one walking by. There were trees, older trees that had withstood many years of drought, some ways off the road. She can't see any other buildings through the trees.

Nancy parks beside the car in the motel parking lot. "Looks like someone's in." She jerks a thumb at the motel reception. The closed blinds are cracked open and snap closed nearly immediately after her remark. The Port siblings move from the car quickly. Kristen moves up to the closest door in front of the other car, banging her fist against the door. It rattles as she tries the knob. Locked. "Christie?" Kristen shouts through the door. "You in there? We got your message!"

She moves to the single pane window beside the door, yet a grungy hanging curtain hides the bed from view. Kristen can see a beaten dresser and another door, presumably to the bathroom. Kristen shouts again, but no one steps into view. Nicole has paused at the car, checking the backseat. The car has no one hiding within it. She tries all of the door handles, but they are locked.

"This has to be her car. We should break in and see if her phones there."

"Her phone." Seryna brought up her phone again and called Christie, pacing beside Nancy's car. "It's ringing. Do you hear anything?"

Kristen shushed her, leaning against the hotel door. "Yeah, I do. Could this place have a back door?"

"Let's go check." Nancy suggested. Kristen and Nancy began running around the side of the hotel together as Nicole protested. "We should stay together!"

"They're already gone." Seryna jerked after the two with her hand, breaking into a sprint. Muttering angrily about stupidity, Nicole loped into a run after her. She came into sight as Nancy was kicking at a door. The door creaked on its hinges. Kristen rammed it with her shoulder. The door creaked in a satisfying way. Nancy leveled another solid kick. Keeping her momentum from her run, Nicole threw herself at the door, turning to take the blow on her shoulder. The door creaked open and Nicole pitched forward, frantically grasping the door jamb unsuccessfully as she pitched into the room.

Nancy was the first inside, bending to help scoop Nicole up from the ground by one arm. Nancy was deceptively strong. "Christie?" Both women shout as they turn to survey the room. The room appears to be untouched. Its grimy with the past, dust smears the window. Finger prints litter the cheap table provided with two straight backed chairs. Nancy scoops and picks up a black patterned purse, rifling inside to find a wallet. Checking ID, she reported. "She was here." Nancy donned the purse while Nicole checked the bathroom. It was small and dingy, but the plumbing was in surprisingly good repair. No drips plagued it, unlike the last hotel she'd been in.

"I heard the phone." Kristen insisted, stepping into the bathroom. It was tight with the two women within as they split up, checking the sink and edge of the tub for forgotten phones. Seryna punched the button again and the dull sound of a ring tone came from the toilet tank. Nicole lifts the lid and fishes the phone out, ending Seryna's call. "So we can't use this to find her." She pockets the phone. "Okay, we need to stick together." She emphasizes, glancing to Nancy and Kristen.

"Here's where it went down. Let's run around back and see if we hear her." The four women departed the room, closing the door that didn't latch closed. They strode directly forward, walking into the tree line. "Christie?" The women shouted as they spread into a loose line, searching the trees. After several feet, the women stood stock still to listen. The birds fluttered above, sounding their calls. There was no sign of Christie or calls for help.

"The motel." Kristen suggested.

"The four broke into a sprint, hitting the motel door quickly. Kristen was the first in, followed by Nancy. The fluorescent lights overhead buzz audibly, lending a sickly greenish cast to the beige walls and ceiling of the front desk area. The brick-red vinyl upholstery on the two uncomfortable-looking love seats in the small waiting space is cracked and peeling. A faded landscape paintings adorn the walls. The magazines on the side table are years out of date and contribute to the musty smell of the place. The "front desk" is just a window-sized opening into a cramped office.

"Hey!" Kristen pounds her fist onto the window.

She cranes her neck to look into the office. "No one's in there. No sign of a struggle in there, either."

"They must have taken her somewhere." Nicole hypothesized. "We may need the others. They should realize we need them and drive in a minute."

Kristen tried the handle to the office and walked inside. "Hello? We're looking for a friend. Need some help here."

"See a sign in log?" Nancy followed her in, scanning the littered desk. She began to rifle through the miscellaneous clutter. "Maybe it was … well, can't be another guest. No car. Cop? We should be super careful of any cops."

Seryna checked her phone and read the message again. "Cops in on it. Look out for man."

"She has seconds – and she mentions the car?" Nicole wondered, suddenly struck with an idea. "CCTV! Where's a computer?"

"I don't even see one. How crappy is this place?" Kristen picked up a stack of manila folders, rifling idly through them. "They are literally setting their bills right on this table here."

"Um, Nicole?" Nancy pointed to the walls. "I don't see a camera." She briskly walked out to the front of the motel office, checking the obvious places for cameras. There were no cameras mounted.

"Guess there's nothing to steal…" She turned and scanned the street, noting that Jenny had not driven in yet. She checked that no one was messing with her car and remembered Nicole's mention of the car. She walked over to Christie's car, leaning in close to the back window. "Take what you need," Nancy thought. "- do you have something we can use?" She could make out some items stuffed down behind the passenger seat, perfect place to hide something in easy reach of the driver. Nancy circled to the opposite front door, studying the lock.

With a glance behind her shoulder to ensure no one was watching, she slipped out a small black case from her bag. Several minutes later, she popped open the door. She secured the case as she shouted towards the lobby. "Cars open!" Nancy popped the back lock and crawled into the back seat, heading for the items of interest that she'd seen earlier.

Christie's car is a mess inside, Nancy gingerly picks through a heap of Styrofoam cups and wrinkled magazines. The other women join her, each taking a seat of the car. Hiding under weeks' worth of Styrofoam coffee cups and fast food wrappers, Nancy's hand closes on something cold and metallic. She draws out a solid flashlight, one she'd imagine could make a good club in a pinch. Enlightened that Christie may have hidden other things, the women slowed their search of her car.

From beneath cigarette packs and half-crumpled magazines in the side doors, Kristen and Nicole were surprised to come out with two pistols. "Too bad she didn't have this on her." Kristen remarked, checking the safety on her pistol. "Oh this is hella illegal. 19 shot magazine."

"Nice six shooter." Nicole examined her find. "Nancy, are you carrying?"

After determining that Nancy was not, Nicole handed her the gun. "No safety." Nancy tucked the gun into Chrisie's purse, along with several handfuls of bills that had been found. Surprisingly, Chrisie had hidden $265 in loose bills in the car.

The four women moved back to the motel lobby, where a young man was leaning out of the office window. "Hey, look who showed up." Kristen scanned him for a name tag. "Adam. Can you help us, Adam?"

"Yeah. Were you guys shouting earlier?" He looked out at the cars in the parking lot. "Which car did you come from?"

"Our car." Nancy stated. "I just bought it so it's' not the piece of crap. We're looking for the owner of that car, though."

"Could swear I saw you come from the crappy one."

"Can we get some help?" Nancy asked, fishing into Chrisie's purse. The women watched her hand as Nicole spoke. "Why are you so interested in which car we were in?"

"Not," Adam said, turning back to Nicole. He gave her a once over, missing all marks for subtlety. He smiled, one that may be considered charming if the women weren't so tense. "You're right. None of my business. I'm Adam," He flashed the smile again. "You are?"

"Nicole," She introduced them all, falling into a coquettish smile. "So, you're here by yourself? You run the whole motel?"

"Pretty much."

Kristen and Seryna edged away, taking a seat at the couch. Both kept a casual eye on their car and the door.

"Big responsibility. So, you very busy tonight?" Through Adam's fairly decent game, Nicole managed to get that he had checked in another woman, but he didn't know where she was. He hadn't seen her since check in, which was about twenty minutes ago. Maybe thirty. He was deep in paperwork in the back and didn't keep track of the time. No, there were no cameras at the hotel. Why? What was she thinking of doing out in the open?

At that disgusting query, Nicole hissed. "At this point, calling the cops on your stupid ass. Chrisie was here- and now she's not. No one's across the street, are they?"

"Just the guys who work there."

"How many?"

"Three…" Adam noticed that the women had separated and that Nancy and Nicole were close to him, watching him with keen interest. "What's your interest with the shop?"

"The restaurant?"

"Shut down. We don't get enough folks out here."

"Of course you don't." Nicole nodded. "Creepy as Resident Evil out here. The later ones. You hear anything a few minutes ago?"

"No. What might…"

"Look, man, we're running out of time and I'm running out of patience for you." Nicole leaned in. "We think our friend is in trouble. We drove all the way out here to meet her and we aren't leaving without her."

"Hun, I don't think- "

Nicole reached over and gripped Adam's shirt, pulling him close as he protested loudly.

"I don't care what you think, Adam. When did you see her last?"

"When she came in, Okay, it wasn't thirty minutes ago, maybe five."

"No shit, we knew that. What happened? Who hurt her?"

"I don't know- "Nicole's hand clenched into a fist, but Nancy spoke quickly.

"Look, we know you don't want to get in trouble. But what about this?" Nancy pulled her hand out of the purse, offering a fistful of bills. "We can pay you for your time. Has to be $50 here."

She placed it on the counter as Nicole released Adam. He glanced at them uncertainty. "Go ahead," Nancy encouraged. "Money's yours. Money isn't important to us."

"Must be nice." He muttered, picking up the cash. "Forty-seven."

Nancy slapped another bill on the counter, not checking what it was.

"Look, we don't want to waste your time. I know, this sucks. You don't want to talk to us. I don't know why."

He picked up the bill, admiring the twenty and slipping the lot of bills into a pocket.

"Got my reasons."

"I'm sure that you do. That's fine. We don't need to look into your motivations. You're just doing your job."

"Yeah," He glanced at Nicole, rubbing his collar. "- you stretched my shirt collar."

"I'm sorry. I'm just scared."

"You're scared?" He began to relax. "Oh. I… I get it. Your friend, you're afraid…" He trailed off, looking between them. "What's going on?"

"We need your help." Nancy implored. "We didn't get here in time and somethings happened to her. Do you have any ideas?"

"Look…" Adam leaned in. "Those three guys?" He looked furtively at the door, checking that no one had walked in. "They're cons."

"They've done time? For what?" Nicole barked. Adam gave her a startled look. "I'm not sure. Nasty shit, I assumed. They don't even do a decent job but never get fired. They got the job, cause…" He glances at the door. "Cause of the lawman."

"Who's the Lawman?"

"Sheriff Ostler."

"He's a real sheriff?"

"Oh yeah, real piece of shit."

"So he got the lowlifes jobs, okay. So, you think that they did something to Chrisie? They ever do something like this before?"

Adam looked uncertain.

"Look, a car. A car ever show up and be driven off by these assholes?"

"Yeah." He answered hesitantly. "They're big cons."

"It's okay." Nicole encouraged. "We weren't here. It's okay. So maybe these scary guys did something to Chrisie. You know of any place quiet where they would take her?"

"Uh," He looked startled. "-no."

"Adam. Please. We won't say anything to anyone. We just get her and we get out and never come back."

"Swear to God." Nancy affirmed.

"There's the gulag and the farmhouse." Adam replies hesitantly. The women consider this for several moments, processing that this man knows of two places with certainty where a missing woman might be. He knows because he likely has heard of other women being taken there. How often has this gone on? How many women could have fallen down the rabbit hole?

"Where's the gulag?" Nicole asked. "We'll need to get there quickly and can't afford to be lost."

Kristen rose from the couch, moving into the office. Adam opened his mouth but closed it again, looking uncertainty between the two women.

"Draw us a map," Kristen insisted, handing him pencil and a sheet of paper. "- and be careful. We find her and we're gone, remember?"

"Right, right." Adam glances at the paper, rolling the pencil in his hand. "You don't know?"

"No." He admitted after a tortured moment of scrutiny of the paper, as though the answer might come to him. "I try not to."

"All right."

"This terrible thing that's here, who runs it? The Sheriff?"

"No. He set it up for D'Angelo. That… there is something really wrong with that guy."

"Okay, where's D'Angelo live?"

"The Farmhouse."

"Good. Thank you, Adam." Nicole leaned in to catch Adam's eye.

"I'm serious. You're helping us a lot right now. I know those cons likely act like big shits."

Adam nods.

"But they're just shitheads. They don't run this shitty little stop. You're the one who runs this hotel."

Adam pauses and nods. "Yeah. This shift, anyway. Through the night."

"That's a long time."

"Get three days off."

"Good deal." Nancy nods. "Except for all of the women going missing. How many?"

"Um, three last month."

Any idea how long it takes to get to the Farm from here?"

"A few minutes." Adam made a pained look as he glanced to the door.

"We'll be gone in a minute." Nancy promised. "D'Angelo. What's wrong with him?"

"So much." Adam winces, his hands nervously tapping the counter. "Everything. He… he is wrong in his head. Not crazy. Not retarded. But something like… I think he'd kill someone. Not like the others, but like, brutal. Like those drug czars in old moves. He doesn't care."

"A sociopath?"

"Yeah, that. He's dark. I just want to,"

Adam trailed off.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What do you want, Adam?" Adam shakes his head, looking between them.

"Nothing. You'll be gone in a few minutes."

"So there's three cons at the shop, "

Nicole indicated the shop with a finger. "And D'Angelo at the Farmhouse. Anyone else come by?"

"The Sheriff comes by, too, "

Adam licked his lip. "The room. He sees to the rooms of the girls."

"You know if they have weapons? Guns?"

"Of course they have guns." He broke into a nervous smile. "Always walking around like big shits with their guns."

He shakes his head. "You all should just go. Drive out now, as fast as you can. Don't stop for that fat - ass."

"Fat - ass?"

"Ostler. Just leave us."

The nervous smile is gone. His face has paled, becoming almost ashen.

"When we get Chrisie." Nicole tilted her head, studying Adam. "You want to go?"

"What?" He laughs, high and nervous. "What? No. You're crazy."

"You wear nice clothes. Nicer than the threadbare collared shirts most guys where for this, just washing the same six or seven shirts. That's your street clothes." Nicole brushed the button up shirt Adam was wearing. "You like nice things and this doesn't pay you." She indicates the motel with her eyes.

"They pay you not to tip off the girls? Not to call the police, right?"

Adam swallows, looking away. He's unable to meet her eyes. "Hey. We'll pay you." Nicole reaches into Chrisie's purse and comes out with another handful of bills.

"We'll pay you to give us information. Then when we're done, we'll come back here for the car and you slip in the back. No harm, no foul."

"You really think you can leave?"

"And so can you." Nicole took his hand and placed the money, folding his hand over the bills. "I'll tell you a secret, Adam. I used to be a cop."

Adam glanced at her with surprise.

"And I shoot shitheads. Shitheads who deal in kidnapped girls in a gulag? I won't give them a chance with a crappy D.A."

"You have a gun?"

Nicole lifted her shirt, showing the edge of the holster. "Yes. And we're not going to be clobbered and put in any gulag." She dropped the tunic edge. "You know anything else we need to know to stay alive?"

"Sheriff's a fat bitch, but he knows that gun. He's real mean. He… he takes a turn with 'em."

"Nasty bitch. I like that." Nicole smiles at him, encouraging. "Anyone else?"

"The… the dogs." Adam swallows. "They don't exercise them where the folks are. But they're nasty. I don't know where they're kept, but I assumed with the girl."

"Is there another girl here?"

"No. Just your friend."

"Okay, we're off. We'll pause for you when we get out of here," Nicole said as the three lead the way out of the room. She pauses at the door. "Be ready when we do."

His voice followed her out of the sickly crackling room into the bright light.

"No one's ever got out before."

Nicole hitched a step as she followed the others out, Adam's words resonating within her. No one had ever gotten out before? How many women had suffered out in this lonely part of the world? Was every woman dead or trafficked off to some cruel fate? She brushed a hand to her weapon, assuring herself that it was still secure. The four women wordlessly entered the vehicle and Nancy started it up. "Where do we go?" She leaned over to study the rest stop. "After the cons?"

"We don't know where the Farmhouse or the gulag is."

"We don't know if the Sheriff is going to be showing up. I say we clear the car out of here so it looks like we left. Find the place on foot." Kristen suggests. "There's four of us. If Chrisie's badly hurt, two of you could carry her while we," She indicates Nicole and herself. "Cover us with guns."

"If we have the guns in our hands, they may come out shooting."

"I say we come out shooting."

"What?"

"Shitheads, Nic. You said you shot shitheads. You want to let these assholes go so they can abuse more girls? I say we shoot them in the gut and tell the cops that we tried to save them." Kristen replied, callous.

"You want to murder them."

"There could be twenty dead women buried in these woods!" Kristen shouted, banging her palm on the dashboard. "Dead! You think these men give a damn about that? God knows what's happened to Chrisie! What if she's already dead?"

"It's been less than twelve minutes." Nancy checked her watch. "Shit. It's felt like an hour."

"It's that asshole." Kristen replied. "That slime taking money on dead girls. He made my skin crawl. Taking money when Chrisie's lying somewhere, God knows what's happened to her. How badly she's hurt."

"He did what he thought he could live with."

"What? Were you serious about taking him with us? Nic, he served these girls up like prime cuts of beef to these perverts." Kristen jerked her thumb forward. "Drive, Nancy. Back towards Jenny and the others."

Nancy put the car into drive and the vehicle pulled onto the road, slowly heading back the way that they had come. "What if we see the Sheriff?"

"Run him off the road." Nicole snarled. "If he's in an off-road car, open the doors and run towards the others. We'll all be able to outshoot him together."

"We could outshoot them now."

"You ever shoot a pistol?" Nicole asked Nancy. "You see the one in the bag, there?"

"Twice."

"Twice." Nicole shook her head. "I don't want her in a firefight."

"I can shoot mine fine." Seryna said quietly. "If Ostler comes for us, I say we shoot him in the arm."

All eyes but Nancy's swung towards her. "He likely knows where these places are. He can tell us where Chrisie is, and how to find D'Angelo. He's the boss, he's the one who can trip up our version of events to the authorities."

"D'Angelo is the boss. The scary sociopath." Nicole stated. "Him, I say we shoot first. Take out a leg."

"Nine times out of ten, a man gets close enough to you, he can disarm you." Nancy replied. "I'll shoot twice. If he's armed, too, I'm shooting for his chest."

"Really." Nicole stated. "You'd kill a man."

"Better than watching you bleed out. Or be chained up to be sold off like some sex slave."

"That's murder."

"Nicole, no." Kristen shook her head. "There are five men out here- armed men- and at least one has been declared a sociopath. You want these men having control over your life?" She twisted around the passenger seat to look Nicole in the eye.

"Do you? You want to risk being merciful and be beaten, captured, tied up and left in some place called a gulag to await their pleasure? What if they put a gun on one of us? You need to decide right now- "

"I know how to make these decisions." Nicole interrupted. "I also know the law. You can't open fire on someone."

"We can." Kristen disagreed heatedly. "When we know that they are a danger to others. To Chrisie."

"We find her." Nicole declared loudly. "Then we drive out of this hick town and get the real police, the FBI, to go around the Sheriff. We get some evidence." She held up her phone, pressing play. "Just in case we see his car."

"You'll tape him shooting us." Kristen muttered, turning around to face front. "Fantastic."

Nicole and Kristen exchange angry glances at one another. "I know how to take care of myself." Nicole insisted. "You need to be careful."

"It's not me I'm worried about." Kristen retorted. Her face contorted in surprise. "Shit, Sheriffs emblem up ahead. Get your guns."

"Damn it." Nicole hissed. She said a bad word. "- did I just say?"

"We can talk about this later." Kristen rested her hand on the gun concealed on her waistband. "He's trained to see that." Nicole spat disgustedly. "Move your hand."

"Fine." Kristen drew the weapon from the holster and held it down beside her leg, between her seat and the door.

Nicole said a string of bad words.

"Let's pretend to be scared away and go meet with the others."

Seryna suggests quickly, glancing between the sisters.

There wasn't time for further deliberation as the truck up ahead sounded the warning to pull over.

The pristine gold pickup truck before the four woman is one monstrous hurdle in the path to Darren, Jenny and Matt. The seal of the county sheriff is blazoned clearly upon the driver's side door, while the man who laboriously heaves his bulk out of the driver's seat is dressed in shades of gray and black. He stands tall, with a broad build that sags with fat. He is wearing mirrored glasses that he lowers to peer across at the sedan. A dusting of crumbs is scattered over his chest. He absently wipes his hand on a thigh, knocking loose another shower of crumbs. He walks with authority; a swagger as there ever was. He walks to Nancy's side of the car and raps on the door with his knuckles, prompting her to roll down the window. Kristen checks the truck, noting that he is alone.

"I suppose you and I ought to have a little chat." He states loudly. He bends forward a bit, scanning Kristen, Seryna and Nicole. He swings his eyes back to Nancy.

"Did I make a moving violation, sir?" She asks, carefully.

"Sheriff." He replies. "You can call me Sheriff." He doesn't ask them to step out and looms over Nancy, looking down at her. His bulk and sheer size is more noticeable up close. There's a faint whiff of exhaust carried on the wind from the truck. "You coming from the motel." He noted, raising his eyes to look at the empty road. He turns and surveys the empty road there as well. He seems to be highlighting their isolation. Nicole brings up the phone from beside her leg, capturing his face as he continues.

"What brings you all this way?"

"Business." Seryna replies from beside Nicole. "A buyer was waiting for us at the motel. She seems to have vanished."

"Sometimes bad things happen on road trips." The big man drawls. "Maybe she blew out a tire out a ways back."

"Thing is, her cars there." Nancy replied, a faint edge of irritation clipping her words. 'It's her that's missing. Good thing you're here to investigate."

The Sheriff settled his gaze on Nancy.

"Yeah, I'm here to investigate, all right. You folks aren't from around here, but here, we have a certain way of doing things. We can handle this best. You ought to head on home."

"Suppose we should." Seryna stated tersely.

"See, there's a good idea." The Sheriff nodded, self-satisfied. He straightened and his shirt stretched over his wide belly as he leaned a bit, checking out the back seat of the car.

"You all drive out here from where?"

"San Diego."

"Wow." He remarked, walking away from the passenger window to peer in at Nicole. "What's that you got there, sweetie?"

"A phone, Sheriff. Looking for signal." Nicole quickly lowered the phone against her leg on the seat.

"Fancy phone you got there. Remarkable the things ya'll bring out here to show us." The man smiles. "Not much works around here. Internet. Phone service is spotty. Best to get on home, now."

"Your radio works?" Nancy asks. "So you can radio the station to look for Chrisie."

Seryna swatted at Nancy's arm as the Sheriff turned, quick on his feet for his bulk. He leans in on her, his ample arm on her car door.

"Oh, we get what we need to out here. Don't worry about that, hun. I didn't catch your name."

"Nancy."

"Nancy." The Sheriff repeated. "You folks might just want to be heading on, Nancy. No need to tarry; you look like the sorts who might just get in trouble if you stick around."

"That a threat?"

"Nancy." Nicole snapped from the back seat. "Man said to get going."

"I don't make threats, miss. I don't have to: the laws on my side."

"Yes sir." Nancy bit off. "We'll be on our way, then."

"Good idea, miss." The Sheriff straightened, thumping his hand on the car roof. "You get on, now. We'll see to your little friend."

Nancy put the car into gear and drove on, swerving carefully around the truck.

"That guy is definitely a creeper."

"Yeah, and no need to make him want to handcuff us." Seryna chastised, turning in her seat to watch the truck. "Okay, he's not following us. That is one scary guy."

"Got all of his threats on tape." Nicole lifted her phone. "Let's meet up with the others."

The seven hunters appraised one another quickly. Turns out that the Sheriff had pulled alongside their car and a strongly worded warning to move on. He had waited until he'd put the car in gear and followed them out the road for a few miles before he'd turned back. The hunters were suitably alarmed to hear about Chrisie's situation. "So we may need to go on foot to not tip off the Sheriff."

"I say we keep our hands near our guns. I get the feeling the Sheriff isn't used to being defied."

"He doesn't need to get shot." Nicole declared. "I hope everyone considers the implications of shooting a lawman."

"He's a scumbag." Darren declared. "And I, for one, wouldn't want to think of either one of you alone with him. Just imagine him on top of you with a pair of handcuffs. Toughest one of you suddenly finds yourself in a lot more trouble with your hands behind you. I say if he moves on you, you should defend yourself."

"Okay." Nicole sighs. "But that doesn't change the fact that we don't know where she is."

"This is a lot of area to cover on foot," Darren began.

"We need to hide the cars." Nancy cut across him. "They need to move Chrisie's car. That's why the Sheriff is here. If we're here when they drive back, we're going to have a problem. Follow me." She put the car into drive and impatiently waited for the women to buckle up before driving off. There weren't many side roads, but she took the first one. "Let's go down here a way, see if there's something like a gulag." She decided, not waiting for opinions.

They spend five minutes exploring two side roads, but none lead to a promising site of the gulag. The two cars are parked just out of sight of the main road. The sedans aren't off road vehicles, so they have to leave them on the edge of the road. No one's very happy with it, but they hastily start walking through the trees parallel to the road, heading back to the motel. They debate their options, but it's quickly apparent that the gulag and farmhouse are not by the roads and easily accessible. They need to get the location from one of the kidnappers.

The easiest solution is to rush the men while the Sheriff is busy moving Chrisie's car. Hopefully if he's in the room when they arrive, as was hinted by Adam, they could move on the rest stop. The group felt a pressing awareness of time, wondering what the kidnappers would do with the Sheriff now on site and believing the witnesses ran off. The group breaks into a jog, following Darren and Matt through the trees and back to the rest stop. The group agrees to let Matt creep up with the bincolculars to decide if the Sheriff is at work at the motel and if any of the kidnappers are with him. In spite of his wishes, no one is comfortable with him going alone.

"There's just no way." Nicole declares. "One – or two of us is going with you. Deal with it."

Darren and Jenny had taken account of Darren's long gun bag back at the car. Matt had been bestowed what Darren dubbed a 'baby Glock'. He touted it as the best concealed carry option in the market. Matt was feeling confident with it, but no one was accepting his opinion that he could scout it out alone. Jenny had taken a Beretta 92, something Nicole remarked was illegal in California because of the size of the magazine that allowed 15 and one in the breach. "The company has 10 round magazines now." Jenny replied, pulling one out of her tactical pants. "It's just a personal preference to have the 15 loaded."

"We can't be taken into custody with that." Nicole stated darkly. "We're in the middle of nowhere, as Sheriff Lardass assured us." Jenny replied calmly, taking a moment to check her gun over.

"We won't be."

Darren had taken the last gun, the Ruger mini. Only Nicole had recognized it, remarking that it was a good choice as she'd heard some friends remark on its' maneuverability.

"I've had good luck with distance on this." Darren stated fondly. "It has the suppressor. It may be a good idea for me to hang back and cover you from a distance. Perhaps Matt and I will go up." He suggested, checking specifically with Seryna.

Seryna insisted on going as well, having armed up with her Tonfa. The remaining five Hunters took cover in thicker brush and awaited their return. With two look outs while Matt surveyed the hotel, the women felt much better about the odds of them being waylaid. Everyone was relieved when the group ran back to the group a few minutes later.

"Sheriff, Adam and some big guy are at the hotel. That means we have only D' Angelo and two of the rest stop workers unaccounted for."

The group hastily broke into a sprint, moving for all out speed at the rest stop. The rest stop was across the street from the motel, in clear sight. From a distance, it seems like a half-dead thing, festooned

in flickering neon and lit from within by dim halogen bulbs. There was a tree line beside it and they could come up the back unseen from the motel. Darren and Jenny decide to stay in the tree line and cover the group from the trees. Kristen, Nancy, Nicole, Matt and Seryna would move in on foot from the back of the rest stop. They moved at a brisk walk, Matt with his weapon in hand and last in the group. Nancy walked in front of him, helping to hide the fact that he was openly carrying. The gravel from the badly eroded asphalt crunches softly underfoot. The harsh smell of gasoline hangs heavily in the air. The promise of danger seems to hone all of Kristen's senses. She feels a heightened awareness, but also a low thrum of anxiety in her chest. She has an increasing feeling of threat from the store. Adam's warnings about the cons and D'Angelo seem to play unbidden in her memory. The group become aware of the irregular buzzing of a sputtering neon sign and the faint reek from the dumpster out back as they near the building.


End file.
